Yadav brothers, singer Maithili Thakur: 5 key candidates in Phase 1 of Bihar voting

Over 1,300 candidates are in fray on 121 seats across 18 districts of Bihar in voting for the first phase of state assembly election.

Bihar is voting for the first phase of the crucial assembly elections with over 3.7 crore voters set to seal the fate of 1,314 candidates in fray for 121 seats across 18 districts.

Tejashwi Yadav is eyeing for a hat-trick from in Raghopur, a constituency that was formerly represented by his chief minister parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. (AFP)

Follow live updates of Bihar's phase one voting here.

The first phase of voting, that kickstarted at 7 am on Thursday, is witnessing some key battles on including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s Tejashwi Yadav and deputy chief ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.

Here is a list of key contestants in fray in Phase 1 of Bihar voting

• Tejashwi Yadav: Yadav is eyeing for a hat-trick from in Raghopur, a constituency that was formerly represented by his chief minister parents Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. He is facing BJP’s Satish Kumar, who dethroned Rabri Devi in 2010 while contesting on a JD(U) ticket, as well as Jan Suraaj Party’s Chanchal Singh.
• Samrat Chaudhary: Bihar deputy chief minister and a BJP heavy weight, Chaudhary is contesting from his home constituency of Tarapur and is contesting after 15 years. He is locked in a battle against RJD's Arun Shah who had previously unsuccessfully contested the 2021 bypolls. As a star campaigner of the saffron party, Chaudhary serves as the second-in-command in Bihar’s NDA government and has been the chief of the BJP’s Bihar unit since 2023. He comes from a strong political background—his father, Shakuni Chaudhary, was a six-time MLA from Tarapur since 1985, while his mother, Parvati Devi, was also elected to the Bihar Assembly once.
• Mangal Pandey: All eyes are on Bihar minister and former chief of the BJP's Bihar unite Mangal Pandey, who has been an MLC since 2012. He is contesting his first assembly polls from Siwan.
• Maithili Thakur: A new entrant in Bihar politics, folk singer Maithili Thakur is contesting on BJP ticket from Alinagar in Darbhanga district. Thakur, who turned 25 just a few months ago, is one of the most talked-about candidates in the Bihar assembly elections. She is being targeted, primarily, for being an "outsider" in the assembly segment of Darbhanga district. The singer-politician, who is fluent in the local dialect Maithili, has her roots in the adjoining district of Madhubani and, for some time, has been settled in Delhi along with her parents and siblings.
• Tej Pratap Yadav: Another high-profile battle is set in Mahua where Independent MLA and former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, is facing RJD's Mukesh Kumar Raushan (the sitting MLA), LJP's Sanjay Singh, and Independent Ashma Parveen.