Nitish Kumar's JDU releases first list of 57 candidates for Bihar assembly election

JD(U) has released its first list of 57 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, marking a crucial step in electoral preparations.

The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday released its first list of 57 candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly election. The list was unveiled after days of discussions within the party leadership over seat distribution as part of the NDA alliance.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar addresses during the 'NDA Karyakarta Sammelan', in Muzaffarpur. (ANI FILE)

Among the notable candidates, Anant Singh has been fielded from the Mokama constituency, a seat that has been a focal point in recent political discussions. Additionally, the JD(U) has announced candidates for four constituencies previously claimed by Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), indicating a strategic move to assert its position within the NDA.

The release of this list marks a significant step in JD(U)'s electoral preparations, setting the stage for a competitive race in the forthcoming election. Further details on the complete list of candidates are expected to be disclosed in the coming days.

S.No	Constituency	Candidate Name
1	Alamnagar	Shri Narendra Narayan Yadav
2	Bihariganj	Shri Niranjan Kumar Mehta
3	Singheshwar (SC)	Shri Ramesh Rishidev
4	Madhepura	Smt Kavita Saha
5	Sonbarsa (SC)	Shri Ratnesh Sada
6	Mahishi	Shri Gunjeshwar Sah
7	Kusheshwar Asthan (SC)	Shri Atirek Kumar
8	Benipur	Shri Vinay Kumar Chaudhary
9	Darbhanga Rural	Shri Ishwar Mandal
10	Bahadurpur	Shri Madan Sahni
11	Gaighat	Shrimati Komal Singh
12	Minapur	Shri Ajay Kushwaha
13	Sakra (SC)	Shri Aditya Kumar
14	Kanti	Engineer Ajit Kumar
15	Kuchaikote	Shri Amarendra Kumar Pandey
16	Bhore (SC)	Shri Sunil Kumar
17	Hathua	Shri Ramsevak Singh
18	Barauli	Shri Manjeet Singh
19	Ziradei	Shri Bhishm Kushwaha
20	Raghunathpur	Shri Vikas Kumar Singh alias Jishu Singh
21	Barharia	Shri Indradev Patel
22	Maharajganj	Shri Hem Narayan Sah
23	Ekma	Shri Dhumal Singh
24	Manjhi	Shri Randhir Singh
25	Parsa	Shri Chhote Lal Rai
26	Vaishali	Shri Siddharth Patel
27	Raja Pakar (SC)	Shri Mahendra Ram
28	Mahnar	Shri Umesh Singh Kushwaha
29	Kalyanpur (SC)	Shri Maheshwar Hazari
30	Warisnagar	Dr. Manjrik Mrunal
31	Samastipur	Smt Ashwamegh Devi
32	Morwa	Shri Vidyasagar Singh Nishad
33	Sarairanjan	Shri Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
34	Bibhutipur	Smt Ravina Kushwaha
35	Hasanpur	Shri Raj Kumar Rai
36	Cheria-Bariarpur	Shri Abhishek Kumar
37	Matihani	Shri Rajkumar Singh
38	Alauli (SC)	Shri Ramchandra Sada
39	Khagaria	Shri Bablu Mandal
40	Beldaur	Shri Panna Lal Patel
41	Jamalpur	Shri Nachiketa Mandal
42	Suryagarha	Shri Ramanand Mandal
43	Sheikhpura	Shri Randhir Kumar Soni
44	Barbigha	Dr. Kumar Pushpanjay
45	Asthawan	Shri Jitendra Kumar
46	Rajgir (SC)	Shri Kaushal Kishor
47	Islampur	Shri Ruhel Ranjan
48	Hilsa	Shri Krishna Murari Sharan alias Prem Mukhiya
49	Nalanda	Shri Shravan Kumar
50	Harnaut	Shri Harinarayan Singh
51	Mokama	Shri Anant Singh
52	Phulwari (SC)	Shri Shyam Rajak
53	Masaurhi (SC)	Shri Arun Manjhi
54	Sandesh	Shri Radha Charan Sah
55	Jagdishpur	Shri Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha
56	Dumraon	Shri Rahul Singh
57	Rajpur (SC)	Shri Santosh Kumar Nirala

The party approved JDU state chief Umesh Khushwaha for Mahanar, minister for rural development of Bihar, Shravan Kumar for Nalanda, Sunil Kumar for Bhore (SC), among others, for the Bihar assembly election.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 71 candidates for the Bihar poll on Tuesday.

The Central Election Committee approved Mangal Pandey for Siwan, Tarkishore Prasad for Katihar, Ramkripal Yadav for Danapur, Nitin Nabin for Bankipur, Renu Devi for Bettiah, Prem Kumar for Gaya Town, Shreyasi Singh for Jamui, Vijay Kumar Sinha, deputy chief minister, for Lakhisarai, and deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary for Tarapur for the Bihar assembly election, among others.

Jan Suraaj released another list of 65 candidates for the upcoming Bihar elections on Monday, taking a lead over its rivals in ticket distribution.

A day earlier, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor stated that the list is in line with the party's effort to provide representation to various sections in proportion to their population.

"Of the 116 names released in the list, 25 were reserved. Of the 91 seats being released for the general category, 31 are allocated to the EBC community, 21 to the OBC community, and 21 to the Muslim community," he said at a press conference.

The initial list of candidates, released on October 9, had the names of 51 candidates for the Bihar assembly election.

While the NDA has decided on seat distribution among its constituents for the Bihar poll, the Mahagathbandhan is yet to do so. The Election Commission issued a notification on Monday for the second phase of the state's assembly polls. Bihar will go to the polls on November 6 and November 11, and votes will be counted on November 14.

The total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore.

The ruling NDA decided its ticket distribution on Sunday. The BJP and JD(U) will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (headed by Ram Vilas) will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six seats each.

JDU MP Sanjay Kumar Jha on Wednesday claimed that the opposition Mahagathbandhan is not able to decide on the seat sharing, adding that party supremo and chief minister Nitish Kumar is set to begin the poll campaign on Thursday.

Sanjay Kumar Jha said the party will release its second list in a couple of days.

The polling for the 243-seat assembly is scheduled to be held on November 6 and November 11, with counting set for November 14.