With the first phase of the upcoming Lok Sabha election less than a month away, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), has shortlisted candidates for its 16 constituencies in Bihar based on seat-sharing within the alliance. Barring a few seats, party president and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, it is said, has opted to repeat several candidates.
Sources in the JD(U) told The Hindu that Mr. Kumar has shortlisted Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (for Munger), Girdhari Yadav (Banka), Dileshwar Kamat (Supaul), Dinesh Chandra Yadav (Madhepura), Chandeshwar Chandravanshi (Jehanabad), Santosh Kushwaha (Purnia), Dulal Chand Goswami (Katihar), Alok Suman (Gopalganj), Kaushalendra Kumar (Nalanda), Ajay Mandal (Bhagalpur), Ramprit Mandal (Jhanjharpur), andSunil Mahto (Valmiki Nagar). They are all sitting JD(U) MPs.
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Sources said Lovely Anand has been nominated to the the Sheohar seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP’s Rama Devi had won the Sheohar seat but this time, the constituency is with the JD(U) under the NDA’s seat-sharing. Ms. Anand is wife of strongman Anand Mohan Singh. Their son, Chetan Anand, is the RJD MLA from Sheohar. However, recently, he was seen supporting the NDA government in the February 12 trust vote in the State Assembly.
Under the ruling NDA coalition, the BJP has 17 seats, the JD(U) has 16, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has five, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha have one seat each of the total of 40 parliamentary seats from the State.
Before filing his nomination papers from Gaya, HAM(S) chief and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday visited the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Mr. Manjhi had earlier courted controversy with his comments on Hindu deities, including Lord Ram.
The JD(U) is yet to take decision on the Siwan, Sitamarhi and Kishanganj seats. Sources said Vijay Lakshmi Devi Kushwaha may be fielded instead of sitting MP Kavita Singh from the Siwan seat. Ms. Kushwaha is the wife of former Ziradei MLA Ramesh Singh Kushwaha.
For the Sitamarhi seat, the JD(U) is likely to field Devesh Chandra Thakur instead of sitting MP Sunil Kumar Pintu. The name of Mujahid Alam is doing the rounds for the Kishanganj seat. Mr. Alam was the MLA from the Kochadhaman Assembly constituency but in the 2020 Assembly election, he was defeated by the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Izhar Asfi.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP and JD(U) fought on 17 seats each, leaving six seats to the then undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The BJP and LJP had won all 17 and six seats, respectively, of their share, while the JD(U) had won 16 seats (the Congress had won the lone seat of Kishanganj).
Meanwhile, the Congress is yet to announce either the seats it will contest or the names of its candidates. Congress MLA from Bhagalpur Ajit Sharma told media persons that if the party gave them the ticket, either he or his daughter Neha Sharma, a Bollywood actress, would contest the Bhagalpur seat.
In the Opposition mahagathbandhan, the three Left parties — the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) appear set to contest five seats — Begusarai, Khagaria, Ara, Karakat, and Jehanabad. The CPI has already announced the candidature of Awadhesh Kumar Rai from the Begusarai seat, while the CPI(M) is likely to field Sanjay Kumar from Khagaria. The mahagathbandhan’s principal ally, the RJD, has already handed its party symbol to over a dozen candidates.
