PATNA: Bihar chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar on Saturday announced former state minister Santosh Kumar Nirala as the party’s candidate from Rajpur (reserved) assembly constituency in Buxar district for the upcoming assembly election due in October-November.
The announcement came ahead of formal seat-sharing arrangements among NDA allies, including BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV), HAM and RLM.
Nitish made the declaration during a ‘Karyakarta Samvad’ (interaction with workers) in Buxar district. As soon as Nirala’s name was announced, the meeting hall echoed with slogans like “Nirala Zindabad” and “Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho, Nirala Jaisa Ho.”
Calling Nirala on stage, Nitish urged workers to support him in the election. “He is a good man and served as a transport minister in my cabinet earlier,” the chief minister said.
Speaking on the occasion, Nitish reminded workers that elections were only a couple of months away. “Keep it in mind that your support will send a good number of party candidates to the state assembly. We need your active support to take the state forward,” he said.
Hitting out at Congress, Nitish alleged that the party had always been involved in “gadbar” (wrongdoings). “Everybody is aware of the situation prevailing in Bihar two decades ago. On the contrary, development is visible everywhere in the state these days,” he asserted.
Nirala was first elected MLA from Rajpur in 2010 and won again in 2015, but lost to Congress candidate Vishwanath Ram in the 2020 assembly election, when JD(U) contested alongside BJP. Despite the defeat, Nitish appointed Nirala as chairman of the Mahadalit Commission for a brief period. His candidature this time is said to be based on ground-level feedback, a senior JD(U) leader said.
Earlier in the day, Nitish inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of development projects worth Rs 325 crore in Buxar district. These included road expansion works and the establishment of a university named after Ustad Bismillah Khan, the Bharat Ratna awardee and legendary musician.