Bihar Polls: JD(U) Releases First List of 57 Candidates, Including Ministers and New Faces

Patna — The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday announced its first list of 57 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, featuring several state ministers and fresh faces. The announcement comes just two days ahead of the nomination deadline for the first phase of polling on November 6.

The list includes prominent leaders from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet along with new entrants. Bahubali leader Anant Kumar Singh will contest from Mokama, having already filed his nomination on Tuesday. Water Resource Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, a close aide of CM Nitish, will contest from Sarairanjan in Samastipur district, while JD(U) National General Secretary Shyam Rajak will fight from Phulwarisharif in Patna.

Ramanand Mandal has been fielded from Suryagarha, a seat previously expected to go to Prahalad Yadav, a former RJD MLA who joined the NDA during the February 2024 floor test. Yadav, who had won the seat in 2020 on an RJD ticket, has been denied a ticket this time.

Other key candidates include Bihar JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha from Mahnar (Vaishali), Cabinet Minister Maheshwar Hazari from Kalyanpur (SC reserved), Minister Ratnesh Sada from Sonbarsa (SC reserved), Minister Amrendra Pratap Singh from Kuchaikot (Gopalganj), and Education Minister Sunil Kumar from Bhore.

In a strategic move to attract LJP supporters, Komal Singh, daughter of LJP-RV MP Veena Devi, has been given a ticket from Gaighat (Muzaffarpur).

Most constituencies in this first list fall under the first phase of elections. Under the NDA seat-sharing arrangement, JD(U) is contesting 101 of Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats, while the remaining seats are allocated to the BJP, LJP (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

With inputs from IANS