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BJP names 71 Bihar candidates, NDA seat allocation talks continue | See list
NDA has finalised its seat-sharing formula. However, allocation talks are still on regarding which party will contest which particular constituencies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released the first list of 71 candidates for the two-phased Bihar assembly elections on November 6 and 11. The party, however, denied tickets to three sitting MLAs, including assembly Speaker and seven time MLA from Patna Sahib, Nand Kishore Yadav, and changed candidates on 15 seats. Nearly 53 candidates have been retained in the first list.
The second list of 30 candidates will be released soon, party office bearers said.
Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, who is a member of the legislative council, will contest from Tarapur, while another deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha has been retained from Lakhisarai. Sitting MLC and Nitish Kumar-led NDA cabinet member Mangal Pandey will be contesting from the Siwan seat.
ALSO READ | NDA's Bihar seat-sharing announced: BJP, JDU take 101 each, Chirag's party gets 29
The list also includes two former MPs — Ram Kripal Yadav, who lost to Misa Bharti of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) from Danapur, will contest from the same seat; Sunil Kumar Pintu, an ex-Janata Dal (United) MP from Sitamarhi, will fight from the Sitamarhi seat. Pintu had recently re-joined the BJP after spending his initial years in politics in the party.
Two other sitting MLAs — Arun Kumar Sinha (Kumhrar) and Amrendra Pratap Singh (Ara) — have been denied tickets.
Here's the full first list of BJP candidates:
| Serial number | Assembly Constituency | Candidate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bettiah | Smt Renu Devi |
| 2 | Raxaul | Shri Pramod Kumar Sinha |
| 3 | Pipra | Shri Shyambabu Prasad Yadav |
| 4 | Madhuban | Shri Rana Randhir Singh |
| 5 | Motihari | Shri Pramod Kumar |
| 6 | Dhaka | Shri Pawan Jaiswal |
| 7 | Riga | Shri Baidyanath Prasad |
| 8 | Bathnaha (SC) | Shri Anil Kumar Ram |
| 9 | Parihar | Smt. Gayatri Devi |
| 10 | Sitamarhi | Shri Sunil Kumar Pintu |
| 11 | Benipatti | Shri Vinod Narayan Jha |
| 12 | Khajauli | Shri Arun Shankar Prasad |
| 13 | Bisfi | Shri Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul |
| 14 | Rajnagar (SC) | Shri Sujeet Paswan |
| 15 | Jhanjharpur | Shri Nitish Mishra |
| 16 | Chhatapur | Shri Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu |
| 17 | Narpatganj | Smt Devanti Yadav |
| 18 | Forbesganj | Shri Vidya Sagar Keshri |
| 19 | Sikti | Shri Vijay Kumar Mandal |
| 20 | Kishanganj | Smt Sweety Singh |
| 21 | Banmankhi (SC) | Shri Krishna Kumar Rishi |
| 22 | Purnia | Shri Vijay Kumar Khemka |
| 23 | Katihar | Shri Tarkishore Prasad |
| 24 | Pranpur | Smt Nisha Singh |
| 25 | Korha (SC) | Smt. Kavita Devi |
| 26 | Saharsa | Shri Alok Ranjan Jha |
| 27 | Gaura Bauram | Shri Sujit Kumar Singh |
| 28 | Darbhanga | Shri Sanjay Saraogi |
| 29 | Keoti | Shri Murari Mohan Jha |
| 30 | Jale | Shri Jibesh Kumar Mishra |
| 31 | Aurai | Smt. Rama Nishad |
| 32 | Kurhani | Shri Kedar Prasad Gupta |
| 33 | Baruraj | Shri Arun Kumar Singh |
| 34 | Sahebganj | Shri Raju Kumar Singh |
| 35 | Baikunthpur | Shri Mithilesh Tiwari |
| 36 | Siwan | Shri Mangal Pandey |
| 37 | Daraundha | Shri Karnjeet Singh |
| 38 | Goriyakothi | Shri Devesh Kant Singh |
| 39 | Taraiya | Shri Janak Singh |
| 40 | Amnour | Shri Krishan Kumar Mantoo |
| 41 | Hajipur | Shri Awadhesh Singh |
| 42 | Lalganj | Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh |
| 43 | Patepur (SC) | Shri Lakhendra Kumar Raushan |
| 44 | Mohiuddinnagar | Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh |
| 45 | Bachhwara | Shri Surendra Mehta |
| 46 | Teghra | Shri Rajnish Kumar |
| 47 | Begusarai | Shri Kundan Kumar |
| 48 | Bhagalpur | Shri Rohit Pandey |
| 49 | Banka | Shri Ram Narayan Mandal |
| 50 | Katoria (ST) | Shri Puran Lal Tudu |
| 51 | Tarapur | Shri Samrat Chaudhary |
| 52 | Munger | Shri Kumar Pranay |
| 53 | Lakhisarai | Shri Vijay Kumar Sinha |
| 54 | Biharsharif | Dr. Sunil Kumar |
| 55 | Digha | Shri Sanjiv Chaurasia |
| 56 | Bankipur | Shri Nitin Nabin |
| 57 | Kumhrar | Shri Sanjay Gupta |
| 58 | Patna Sahib | Shri Ratnesh Kushwaha |
| 59 | Danapur | Shri Ramkripal Yadav |
| 60 | Bikram | Shri Siddharth Saurav |
| 61 | Barhara | Shri Raghvendra Pratap Singh |
| 62 | Arrah | Shri Sanjay Singh “Tiger” |
| 63 | Tarari | Shri Vishal Prashant |
| 64 | Arwal | Shri Manoj Sharma |
| 65 | Aurangabad | Shri Trivikram Singh |
| 66 | Gurua | Shri Upendra Dangi |
| 67 | Gaya Town | Dr. Prem Kumar |
| 68 | Wazirganj | Shri Birendra Singh |
| 69 | Hisua | Shri Anil Singh |
| 70 | Warsaliganj | Smt. Aruna Devi |
| 71 | Jamui | Ms. Shreyasi Singh |
Sujit Kumar Singh, an IRS officer who joined the BJP on Monday after resigning from civil service, will replace his wife Swarna Singh from the Gaura Bauram seat. The first list, however, does not include folk singer Maithali Thakur.
The BJP has also given tickets to nine women in its first list, including Renu Devi, Gayatri Devi, Devanti Yadav and Rama Nishad.
ALSO READ | How NDA seat-sharing for 2025 Bihar election differs from past formula
Some other prominent names on the list include Prem Kumar from Gaya, former deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad from Katihar and Alok Ranjan Jha from Saharsa.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had on Sunday announced its seat-sharing formula, wherein the BJP and JD(U) will contest on 101 seats each, while LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest on 29, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha will contest six seats each. The NDA alliance comprises the BJP, JD(U), LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
