PATNA: Rebel and independent candidates may spin the poll arithmetic for both the ruling NDA and the Opposition Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled in two phases on November 6 and 11.
As many as 30 rebels and independents are contesting in the first phase of the 243-member Assembly polls. Several aspirants who have been denied tickets have joined smaller outfits like the Jan Suraaj Party of Prashant Kishor or entered the fray as independents.
The nominations of Shashi Bhushan Singh, sitting MLA from Sugauli (East Champaran), and Seema Singh of the LJP (Ram Vilas) from Marhaura (Saran), were cancelled due to technical reasons. Singh had filed papers as a Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate — one of the INDIA bloc allies — while LJP (RV) is part of the NDA.
Discontent, as per sources, simmers within both alliances. In the NDA, many have turned rebels. JD(U) MLA Narendra Kumar Neeraj, alias Gopal Mandal, is contesting as an Independent from Gopalpur, which he has represented four times. The JD(U) has fielded former MP Shailesh Kumar, alias Bulo Mandal, from the seat. Similarly, BJP MLA Rashmi Verma is fighting as an Independent from Narkatiaganj.
Several Patna constituencies—Digha, Patna Sahib, Kumharar, Maner, Paliganj, Danapur, Bikram, and Barh—are witnessing intra-alliance resistance. In Digha, BJP MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia faces JD(U) rebel Ritesh Ranjan Singh of Jan Suraaj and CPI(ML) Liberation’s Divya Gautam.
In Parihar, Ritu Jaiswal, who had unsuccessfully contested 2020 assembly election, has turned an RJD rebel. She has filed her nomination against RJD’s Smita Purbe, daughter-in-law of former RJD state chief Ram Chandra Purbe.