Bihar polls: Nitish Kumar’s JDU finalises candidates’ list, may drop four ‘non-performing’ sitting MLAs due to…

Bihar Assembly Election: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) is likely to contest 103 of the 243 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Election, and is likely to drop four sitting MLAs. According to a senior party leader, the JDU has finalised its list of candidates for “all seats”, which will be revealed in formal announcement by NDA leaders “at an appropriate time”.

Why JDU plans to drop four MLAs?

The JDU leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the party has decided to replace four “non-performing” sitting MLAs with “fresh faces” in assembly constituencies under Bhagalpur, Nawada and Banka districts.

“The seats which we would be contesting have been identified. Respective candidates have also been finalised. Four non-performing sitting MLAs will be replaced with fresh faces. A new candidate will also be fielded in Parbatta seat in Khagaria where our MLA Sanjeev Kumar last week crossed over to the RJD. The same will happen in Rupauli assembly constituency, where our multiple-term former MLA Bima Bharti has sided with the opposition parties,” the leader told news agency PTI.

“A decision in this regard has been taken on the basis of the feedback received from the electorate of their respective constituencies. Our central leadership had already made it clear that non-performing MLAs will not be repeated in the coming polls,” the leader said.

NDA seat-sharing tussle

Citing sources, the PTI report said that the BJP is expected contest 102 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Election.

Notably, Union minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which had earlier settled for around 20-22 seats, is now asking for more seats, while other NDA partners– Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) — will also get a respectable number of seats, the sources said, according to PTI.

Earlier, Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had that he was “requesting and not making a claim” that HAM be given a respectable number of seats, otherwise the party might not contest the election.

“Everything is fine in the NDA… seat-sharing arrangements and list of candidates will be decided by the party’s central leadership in a day or two. A formal announcement in this regard will be made very soon,” a BJP leader said.

The Bihar Assembly election will be held on November 6 and 11 in two phases, while votes will be counted on November 14.

(With PTI inputs)