BJP Finalises Bihar Poll Line-Up; Announces Last 18 Candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party has completed its line-up for the Bihar Assembly elections, issuing a final list of 18 names and bringing its total to 101 candidates, its full share under the NDA’s seat-sharing deal.

Alongside the BJP’s announcement, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha released its own list of four nominees. According to the RLM:

• Madhav Anand will contest the Madhubani seat,
• Prashant Kumar Pankaj will fight from Ujiarpur,
• Snehlata, wife of RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, has been fielded from Sasaram, and
• Alok Kumar Singh will represent the party in Dinara

The RLM will contest six constituencies in total.

Before this, the BJP had revealed two earlier rounds of candidates, seventy-one names on Tuesday, followed by twelve on Wednesday.

With the latest release, the party has now filled all the constituencies it will contest.

The second list featured two widely recognised figures: folk singer Maithili Thakur and former IPS officer Anand Mishra, both considered strategic choices aimed at appealing to regional voters.

Meanwhile, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) published its first set of 14 candidates on Wednesday.

The party will contest 29 seats as part of the NDA arrangement and is likely to announce the rest shortly.

Among those contesting on the LJP (RV) ticket are the party’s state president Raju Tiwari from Govindganj in East Champaran, influential leader Hulas Pandey from Brahmapur in Buxar, and Chirag Paswan’s nephew Seemant Mrinal, who will stand from the Garkha (SC) constituency in Saran district.

Under the agreed formula, the BJP and the JD(U) will each fight on 101 seats, while the LJP (RV) takes 29.

Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM have both received six seats apiece.

Tensions within the alliance persist, however.

Manjhi has announced that HAM intends to contest from Makhdumpur and Bodh Gaya, both earmarked for the LJP (RV), while talks continue over other constituencies such as Mahua and Chakai.

RLM leader Upendra Kushwaha met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday to defuse tensions. He later assured that differences within the NDA would resolved amicably.

Bihar will vote in two phases, on 6 and 11 November, with counting scheduled for 14 November.

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