NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party late Wednesday night released the third list of 18 candidates in Bihar to complete its tally of 101 candidates allotted to it in the seat-sharing distribution.
Earlier in the day, the party had released its second list of 12 candidates while 71 names were released on Tuesday.
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 has said that the NDA is going into the elections with “rock-solid unity.”
Principal rival Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal is yet to announce its candidates. The Congress, RJD’s alliance partner, has not released a formal list, although it has named some of its candidates on X.
BJP allies Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), contesting on 101 seats, and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), fighting on 29 seats, have also declared some of their candidates, while Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has announced all of its six 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 on all seats, has named Chanchal Singh as its candidate from Raghopur.
Raghopur is the pocket borough 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 held in two phases: November 6 and 11. The votes will be counted on November 14. Nominations for the first phase close on October 17 and those of second phase on October 20.
