JD(U)’s 1st Bihar list out as NDA irons out differences
Part of the resolution will involve seat swaps as evident in the JD(U)’s list including candidates for 4 seats presumably allotted to Chirag’s LJP (Ramvilas)
The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday released its first list of 57 candidates, its partner the Bharatiya Janata Party, two lists of 30 candidates, a third partner, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), a list of 14 and the head of another partner, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha met the Union home minister and his deputy, and said he was hopeful of there being “no more difficulties” — all suggesting that issues within the alliance, so evident on Tuesday, were close to being resolved.
Part of the resolution will involve seat swaps — partners swapping seats allotted to each other — as evident in the JD(U)’s first list including candidates for four seats presumably allotted to Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas).
And part of it could involve other accommodations.
On Wednesday , RLM’s Upendra Kushwaha, who a day earlier said “All is not well in NDA” met Union home minister, Amit Shah, and minister of state for home, Nityanand Rai, and said he hoped “ there will be no further difficulties.”
Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal addressed the media in Kushwaha’s presence later in the evening and said all issues had been resolved and that the RLM would also be provided a seat in the legislative council elections.
“He met the home minister today and discussed campaigning and nominations. RLM will also release its list of six candidates soon and from tomorrow its candidates will file their nominations. The NDA is united and going ahead with strong cohesion,” he added.
People familiar with the matter said Kushwaha wanted the Mahua assembly seat, which had been allocated to the LJP(RV). When asked about this, he said that an official announcement would be made in a separate press conference. The people cited above added that Kushwaha has been assured of an extended term in the Rajya Sabha; his current term ends April 2026.
The JD(U) is contesting 101 seats, the same as alliance partner BJP. The BJP has now announced candidates for all 101 seats.
The LJP (Ram Vilas) is contesting 29 seats and RLM and Jitan Ram Majhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) have got six seats each.
Majhi continued to express his anguish over Chirag Paswan getting 29 seats but said that the NDA will return to power. “I am not happy with the seats we got. But, we will remain part of the NDA,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
To be sure, it isn’t just the NDA that is facing internal issues; the rival Mahagatbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and which includes the Congress, was yet to arrive at a seat sharing arrangement till late Wednesday, although some analysts said the parties are almost there, and could well choose to just have their candidates file nominations and announce the seat share deal later.
The first phase of polling, for 121 of Bihar’s 243 seats is on November 6 and the second on November 11. The deadline for filing nominations for the phases is October 17 and 20 respectively. Results will be announced on November 14.
On Wednesday, the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav filed his nomination from the Raghopur seat. Till late Wednesday, 10 RJD candidates and two Congress ones had filed nominations.
On Wednesday, just before Shah’s meeting with Kushwaha, the BJP released its second list of 12 candidates including popular folk singer, Maithili Thakur, who will contest from Alinagar in Darbhanga, currently represented by Mishri Lal Yadav, who left the BJP recently, and former Assam cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Anand Mishra from Buxar.
Late on Wednesday, the BJP released a third list of 18 candidates, in which fielded Satish Kumar Yadav from Raghopur to take on Tejashwi.
The party had released the first list of 71 candidates on Tuesday, which saw some rebellion on ground with former minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey’s son announcing he would contest from Bhagalpur assembly seat after being denied a ticket.
The JD(U)’s first list did not have any surprises and included new faces on seats swapped with the BJP and LJP.
Nineteen sitting MLAs, 11 candidates who lost in 2020 assembly polls (JD(U)’s worst ever performance) and 27 fresh faces have been fielded. Of the candidates, 10 are from the scheduled castes, and four are women. No Muslims featured in the first list.
The JD(U) also declared candidates on four seats — Sonbarsa, Morwa, Ekma and Rajgir, — given to Chirag Paswan and the list showed that it has swapped four seats with the BJP, including Tarapur , where BJP leader and deputy CM Samrat Choudhary will contest. There is also a likelihood of a swap of the Karakat, Dinara, Sasaram, Barauli and Gopalganj seats and this will be clear in the second list to be announced in a day or two, party leaders said.
JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha said there was total clarity in the NDA and the JD(U). “No decision in the JD(U) is possible without the knowledge and consent of Nitish Kumar. He is the face of NDA. But he is a democratic person, not autocratic. He believes in debate and discussion, but every party decision has his approval,” he said.
In another development, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an NDA ally in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday released the list of 48 candidates for the first phase of Bihar elections. The party said it would contest 153 of 243 seats in Bihar. “We wished to strengthen the NDA in Bihar but due to the unresponsive behaviour of the state unit of the BJP, we could not get along with the alliance,” SBSP national general secretary Arvind Rajbhar said in Patna, adding that the party will not be part of any bloc in Bihar.
