JD-U announces 25 candidates from Bihar

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav on Sunday announced the names of 25 candidates from Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, leaving 15 seats for its ally Bharatiya Janata Party.

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav on Sunday announced the names of 25 candidates from Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, leaving 15 seats for its ally Bharatiya Janata Party.

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Former defence minister George Fernandes and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh have been omitted from the list.

Yadav announced his own candidature from Madhepura, where he lost to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in 2004.

Three of the five JD-U MPs who resigned from the Lok Sabha in November 2008 to protest against attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra have been re-nominated.

They are Prabhunath Singh from Maharajganj, Meena Singh from Arrah and Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan from Munher.

MPs who were denied ticket include Fernandes, ostensibly on account of his poor health, and Kailash Baitha, whose Bagha reserved seat has been declared a general category seat.

Yadav attributed the denial of ticket to Baitha to the "complete changes" in the constituency profile following delimitation.

The party has also fielded RJD rebels like Magni Mal Mandal and Mahabali Singh.

"RJD and JD-U were one and the same earlier, and there was not much difference between the workers and activists of the two parties," he said. "The workers from the two parties keep migrating."

Yadav also named two candidates each in Jharkhand and Gujarat.