The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday released its second list of 12 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections. Folk singer Maithili Thakur will contest from Alinagar. The 25-year-old singer from Benipatti in Madhubani district joined the BJP on Tuesday in the presence of state party president Dilip Jaiswal. She replaces incumbent MLA Mishrilal Yadav, whose ticket was dropped amid reports of dissatisfaction with party dynamics.
“I am very impressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. I am here to serve society and contribute to the development of Bihar,” Thakur said after joining the party. She added she wants to promote Maithili traditions through public service.
The party has introduced new faces in nine of the 12 constituencies in this list. Former Indian Police Service officer Anand Mishra will run from Buxar. Ram Chandra Prasad will contest from Hayaghat. Chhoti Kumari and Rakesh Ojha will fight from Chhapra and Shahpur, respectively. Birendra Kumar and Mahesh Paswan will contest from Rosera and Agiaon, both reserved for Scheduled Castes. Other nominees include Ranjan Kumar from Muzaffarpur and Subhash Singh from Gopalganj.
On Tuesday, the BJP released its first list of 71 candidates for the elections. The Central Election Committee approved names including Mangal Pandey for Siwan, Tarkishore Prasad for Katihar, Ramkripal Yadav for Danapur, Nitin Nabin for Bankipur, Renu Devi for Bettiah, Prem Kumar for Gaya Town, Shreyasi Singh for Jamui, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha for Lakhisarai, and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary for Tarapur.
The ruling NDA announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the elections. The BJP and Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 29 seats, Rashtriya Lok Morcha six, and Hindustani Awam Morcha six seats.
The NDA will face the INDIA bloc led by Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD along with the Congress, CPI (ML), CPI, CPM, and Vikasheel Insaan Party led by Mukesh Sahani. Bihar will also see the entry of Prashant Kishor’s new party Jan Suraaj.
Bihar will hold polling for its 243-seat assembly in two phases on November 6 and 11. Vote counting is scheduled for November 14.ty.