JD(u), LJP Release Names of First List of Candidates
The party approved JD(U) state chief Umesh Khushwaha for Mahanar, Minister for Rural Development Shravan Kumar for Nalanda, and Sunil Kumar for Bhore (SC), among others
New Delhi: With the seat-sharing issue appearing to have been resolved among Bihar’s ruling NDA partners, the JD(U) and the LJP (Ram Vilas) on Tuesday released their first lists of candidates. The JD(U) announced 57 names, the LJP (RV) 14, while the BJP issued its second list of 12 candidates.
Earlier, tensions had surfaced within the alliance, with Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM expressing discontent over seat distribution. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was also reportedly upset, and the matter was settled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally reached out to him. Kushwaha later met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
The BJP, which had earlier announced 71 candidates, released its second list of 12 nominees for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. Among the new candidates are devotional and folk singer Maithili Thakur from Alinagar and former IPS officer Anand Mishra from Buxar. According to the list, Ram Chandra Prasad will contest from Hayaghat, Chhoti Kumari from Chhapra, and Rakesh Ojha from Shahpur. Birendra Kumar and Mahesh Paswan have been fielded from Rosera and Agiaon (SC) seats, respectively.
The JD(U)’s list features key ministers including Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Sharwan Kumar, Madan Sahni, Ratnesh Sada, and Maheshwar Hazari. It also includes turncoats like Shyam Rajak, who rejoined JD(U) after quitting RJD a year ago, and Anant Kumar Singh, a don-turned-politician who filed his nomination from Mokama on Tuesday. JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha will contest from Mahnar and has already filed his nomination papers.
According to the list, Madan Sahni has been fielded from Bahadurpur, Ratnesh Sada from Sonbarsa, Maheshwar Hazari from Kalyanpur, Vijay Kumar Choudhary from Sarairanjan, and Sharwan Kumar from Nalanda.
Notably, Anant Kumar Singh, also known as “Chhote Sarkar”, declared assets worth ₹37.88 crore and disclosed that he faces 28 criminal cases, according to his affidavit.
The LJP (RV) list, led by Chirag Paswan, includes state unit chief Raju Tiwary from Govindganj and Hulas Pandey from Brahampur in Buxar district. Other nominees include Sanjay Kumar Singh (Simri Bakhtiyarpur), Vishnu Dev Paswan (Darauli), Simant Mrinal (Garkha), Surendra Kumar (Sahebpur Kamal), and Babulal Saurya (Parbatta). Additional candidates are Mithun Kumar (Nath Nagar), Sunil Kumar (Paliganj), Rajeev Ranjan Singh (Dehri), Sangeeta Devi (Balrampur), Rani Kumari (Makhdumpur), and Prakash Chandra (Obra).
As per the NDA’s seat-sharing agreement, the LJP (RV) will contest 29 seats, while both the BJP and the JD(U) will field candidates in 101 constituencies each. The HAM and RLM have been allotted six seats each.
