JD(U) names all16 candidates in Bihar, focus on Backward Classes

New Delhi, March 24

NDA ally JD(U) today dropped two sitting MPs, Sunil Kumar Pintu from Sitamarhi and Kavita Singh from Siwan, as it announced candidates for all 16 Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Bihar.

The announcement of candidates was made by JD(U) national vice-president Vashishth Narayan Singh with priority being accorded to Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes, the party’s core base. Devesh Chandra Thakur, the Chairman of the Bihar legislative council, will be contesting from Sitamarhi. Vijay Laxmi Kushwaha has been fielded from Siwan, the ticket coming to her a day after she joined the JD(U) along with her husband Ramesh Singh Kushwaha, who was the state president of NDA ally Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

As per the formula announced by the NDA earlier this week, the JD(U) has been assigned 16 of the state’s 40 seats, equivalent to its current strength in the Lok Sabha but one less than the number it had contested five years ago. The party will be contesting the Muslim-majority constituency of Kishanganj, which it had lost in 2019, reposing its trust in Mujahid Alam, who was defeated by the Congress winner by a margin of less than 35,000 votes.

The party has given up its sitting seat of Karakat, represented by Mahabali Singh, for ally Rashtriya Lok Morcha, headed by former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, but got Sheohar, which was previously held by BJP. The JD(U)’s Sheohar candidate will be Lovely Anand, wife of mafia don-turned-politician Anand Mohan and mother of RJD MLA Chetan Anand, who crossed over to the NDA during the Assembly’s budget session last month. “The list includes “six OBCs, five EBCs, one Mahadalit, a Muslim and three from the upper castes. There are also two women. Care has been taken to ensure that all sections of society get a fair representation,” a party leader said.

Among the other sitting MPs who will be seeking re-election from their respective seats are former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ (Munger) and Nalanda MP Kaushalendra Kumar, who will be running for a fourth consecutive term from the seat that has in the past been represented by Nitish Kumar himself and his mentor George Fernandes.

Besides, Purnea MP Santosh Kumar Kushwaha, who made his debut in 2014, when he held his own in the face of the Modi wave, and retained the seat five years later, bolstered by the JD(U)’s realignment with BJP, will be seeking a hat-trick.

Other JD(U) candidates are Sunil Kumar (Valmiki Nagar), Ramprit Mandal (Jhanjharpur), Dileshwar Kamait (Supaul), Dulal Chandra Goswami (Katihar), Dinesh Chandra Yadav (Madhepura), Ajay Kumar Mandal (Bhagalpur), Giridhari Yadav (Banka) and Chandreshwar Prasad Chandravanshi (Jehanabad), all sitting MPs, getting tickets from their respective seats.

Two women in fray

The JD(U) list includes six OBCs, five EBCs, one Mahadalit, a Muslim and three from the upper castes. There are also two women. “Care has been taken to ensure that all sections of the society get a fair representation,” said a party leader.

NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement

As per the formula announced by the NDA earlier this week, the JD(U) has been assigned 16 of the state’s 40 seats, equivalent to its current strength in the Lok Sabha, but one less than the number it had contested five years ago. (With PTI inputs)