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The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday announced its first list of 57 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The list was released after several rounds of discussions within the party’s top leadership over seat-sharing arrangements under the NDA alliance. The announcement also includes candidates for all four seats claimed by Chirag Paswan, signaling the party’s intent to contest those constituencies firmly.
Five ministers have been included in the first list of candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. They are:
- Shravan Kumar, the Rural Development Minister, will contest from Nalanda.
- Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Water Resources Minister, has been fielded from Sarairanjan.
- Maheshwar Hazari, Minister for Information and Public Relations, will contest from Kalyanpur.
- Madan Sahni, Social Welfare Minister, has been given the ticket from Bahadurpur.
- Ratnesh Sada, Minister for Prohibition, will contest from Sonbarsa.
Other key candidates announced are Ratnesh Sada from Sonbarsa, Vidyasagar Nishad from Morwa, Dhumal Singh from Ekma, Kaushal Kishore from Rajgir, Narendra Narayan Yadav from Alamnagar, Niranjan Kumar Mehta from Bihariganj, Ramesh Rishi Dev from Singheshwar, Kavita Saha from Madhepura, Gandeshwar Shah from Mahisi, Atirek Kumar from Kusheshwarsthan.
Congress hits out at NDA over seat-sharing
Meanwhile, the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have been sharply criticising the NDA alliance over its seat-sharing troubles in Bihar, calling it a sign of growing internal rifts and hypocrisy.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said the NDA was “falling apart,” adding, “Nobody wants to stay on a sinking ship. Upendra Kushwaha is upset and has gone to Delhi to meet Nityanand Rai. Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan are filing nominations against each other, and Chirag is even contesting from JD(U) seats.”
He further alleged, “NDA is already dead in practice. Nitish Kumar’s corruption over the last 20 years must be accounted for. People are demanding answers, and the alliance is collapsing. The BJP’s alleged vote theft will soon become a burden for all its partners.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey echoed similar criticism, saying, “Every ally in Bihar has been given just six seats, they’re being treated like slaves, not partners. Kushwaha and Manjhi are both unhappy and could contest separately. The BJP prefers slaves over friends. Even now, both JD(U) and BJP are fighting on 101 seats each, but in the future, BJP will never give JD(U) more than 50.”
