Amid growing concerns over the Mahagathbandhan alliance's failure to reach a formal seat-sharing pact for the Bihar Assembly polls, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday announced its list of 143 candidates, just hours before the deadline for filing nominations for the first phase.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been fielded from the Raghopur assembly seat in Vaishali district, a constituency that holds deep political and emotional significance for the Yadav family. A traditional RJD bastion, Raghopur was earlier represented by party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi. Tejashwi, who has held the seat since 2015, is now seeking a third consecutive term.
Out of the 143 candidates, eight would end up contesting against nominees of the other INDIA bloc constituents. The party is expected to take on the Congress in Narkatiganj, Lalganj, Vaishali, Sultanganj, Kahalgaon, and Sikandra, while it will challenge Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insan Party in Tarapur and Gaura Boram.
However, the list put to rest speculation that the RJD would contest the Kutumba seat, currently held by state Congress president Rajesh Kumar Ram, which could have triggered a full-blown face-off between the two allies.
Notable among the candidates are Tejashwi Yadav (Raghopur), Alok Mehta (Ujiyarpur), Mukesh Raushan (Mahua) and Akhtarul Islam Shahin (Samastipur), all of whom will be defending their sitting seats.
RJD president Lalu Prasad's personal aide Bhola Yadav, who had also won the Bahadurpur seat in 2015, but dropped five years later when the party lost the constituency to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), will try to wrest it back from minister Madan Sahni.
Former Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, who was trounced by a JD(U) greenhorn in the Lok Sabha polls last year when he contested from Siwan, has been allowed to try and retain his sitting assembly seat of the same name.
Former education minister Chandrashekhar, who has been in the news for his controversial views on Hindu scriptures, has also been fielded from his sitting seat of Madhepura.
The "MY" (Muslim-Yadav) support base of the party appears to have been kept in mind in the selection of candidates, though other backward castes and upper castes have also been given tickets.
The principal opposition party can also pride itself in having fielded 21 women, far more than its main rivals, the JD(U) and the BJP.
The JD(U) and the BJP, the two main constituents of the ruling NDA, are contesting 101 seats each.
Often charged by its detractors with having ushered in "jungle raj" while in power, the RJD has preferred realpolitik to an image makeover.
A don-turned-politician like Bogo Singh (Matihani) is himself in the fray, while Osama Shahab has been given a chance to carry forward late father Mohd Shahabuddin's legacy by making a debut from Raghunathpur, which falls under the Siwan Lok Sabha seat, where the deceased parent had remained unbeaten until he was disqualified following conviction in criminal cases.
Former MP Veena Devi, wife of gangster-turned-politician Suraj Bhan Singh, will challenge her husband's arch-rival Anant Singh in Mokama.
Debutante Shivani Shukla, who has a law degree from London, has entered the fray from Lalganj, which has been won twice by her father Munna Shukla, one of the most feared ganglords of north Bihar, and once by her mother Annu Shukla.
Due to confusion within the Mahagathbandhan, the RJD had not released its candidate list until now. However, even before releasing the official list, the party had allocated symbols to all its candidates.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Monday released names of seven more candidates for the Bihar Assembly polls, taking the total number of candidates announced by the party to 61.
The Congress' list was announced post-midnight, even as a formal seat-sharing deal has eluded the Mahagathbandhan with the RJD and the Congress, the two main constituents of the alliance, unable to reach an understanding.
Earlier, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera claimed that the seat-sharing arrangements among the INDIA bloc partners have already been finalised. He had said, “Everything has been finalised, only the official announcement is pending, which will be made at an appropriate time.”
The elections are scheduled for November 6 and 11, with counting and results to be declared on November 14.
