Kumar Bahukhandi
JDU Releases Second List (File Photo: ITG)
Janata Dal (United) released its second list on Thursday, naming 44 candidates. Nitish Kumar’s party had previously announced the names of 57 candidates in its first list.
Nitish Kumar’s party, Janata Dal (United), released its second list on Thursday, naming 44 candidates, including nine women and four Muslim candidates. JDU has also fielded Chetan Anand, son of strongman Anand Mohan, from Nabinagar. Previously, JDU had announced 57 candidates in its first list. With this, JDU has announced candidates for all 101 seats. Gopal Mandal’s ticket has been cancelled, replacing him with Bulo Mandal.
JDU has given tickets to Dhirendra Pratap Singh alias Rinku Singh from Valmikinagar, Samridh Verma from Sikta, Vishal Sah from Narkatia, Shalini Mishra from Kesaria, Shweta Gupta from Shivhar, Nagendra Raut from Sursand, Pankaj Mishra from Runnisaidpur, Sudhanshu Shekhar from Harlakhi, Meena Kamat from Babubarhi, Sheela Mandal from Phulparas, Satish Sah from Laukha, Anirudh Prasad Yadav from Nirmali, Ram Vilas Kamat from Pipra, Vijendra Prasad Yadav from Supaul, Sonam Rani Sardar from Triveniganj (SC), Achmit Rishidev from Raniganj (SC), Shagufta Azim from Araria, Janab Mazhar Alam from Jokihat, Gopal Agarwal from Thakurganj, Saba Zafar from Aamr.
The NDA finalised its seat-sharing last week, with the BJP and JDU contesting 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was given 29 seats, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha six, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha six.
Before JDU, BJP released its second list, announcing the names of 12 candidates. The BJP’s first list included 71 candidates, including prominent names like Minister Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha.
37 OBC Candidates
JDU, meanwhile, released its second list, also detailing the social classification of its candidates. According to JDU, the party has fielded the highest number of OBC candidates on 37 seats, followed by 22 EBC, 22 General, 15 SC, one ST, and four Muslim candidates.
Concerns Growing in the Grand Alliance
On the other hand, the lack of consensus on seat sharing within the Grand Alliance (RJD, Congress, and Left parties) is increasing unease. Congress has released a list of 17 candidates without final agreement, while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has filed his nomination from Raghopur. Apart from this, Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraj Party also released a second list, which contains 65 names, but Kishore himself will not contest the elections.
