bihar-polls-bjp-releases-3rd-list-of-18-candidates

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

 

Late on Wednesday night, the BJP announced its third list of 18 candidates, taking the total number of declared candidates to 101, which is also the number of seats allotted to the party in the final seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA for the Bihar elections.

 

Earlier in the day, the party had released its second list of 12 names. On Tuesday, it had announced a list of 71 candidates, fielding Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha from Tarapur and Lakhisarai constituencies, respectively, along with six state ministers.

 

The BJP has dropped 16 sitting MLAs from its list of 101 candidates.

 

According to the BJP list, folk singer Maithili Thakur will contest from Alinagar in Darbhanga district.

 

Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal said that the NDA was entering the elections with “rock-solid unity.”

 

Principal rival Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal is yet to announce its candidates. The Congress, the RJD’s alliance partner, has not released a formal list, though it has revealed some names on X.

 

Also Read : BJP releases first list of 71 Bihar Assembly poll candidates

 

BJP allies Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), contesting 101 seats, and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), fighting on 29 seats, have also announced some of their candidates, while the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has declared all six of its candidates for the polls.

 

In its third list, the BJP has named Satish Kumar Yadav as its candidate from Raghopur, a seat held by Tejashwi Yadav since 2015. Challenger Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, making its debut and contesting all seats, has fielded Chanchal Singh from Raghopur.

 

Raghopur is considered the stronghold of Lalu Yadav’s family. Before Tejashwi, the seat was held by Lalu Yadav and his wife, former Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

 

The polling for the 243-seat Assembly will be conducted in two phases, on November 6 and 11, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14.