Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU on Wednesday unveiled its first list of 57 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, highlighting cracks within the BJP-led NDA over seat-sharing arrangements.
The list, approved by Nitish who is also the JDU national president, includes candidates for four constituencies that Union minister Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) had sought.
The first-phase list features JDU state chief Umesh Khushwaha from Mahanar, rural development minister Shravan Kumar from Nalanda, and Sunil Kumar from Bhore (SC).
Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary has been fielded from Sarai Ranjan, reaffirming his central role in the party’s election strategy.
Among the 57 nominees, Ratnesh Sada has been named from Sonbarsa, Vidyasagar Nishad from Morwa, Dhumal Singh from Ekma, and Kaushal Kishore from Rajgir.
In a notable shuffle, Atirek Kumar replaces Aman Bhushan Hazari, whose ticket from Kusheshwarsthan was cancelled. Sudarshan Kumar’s ticket from Barbigha has also been withdrawn, with the replacement yet to be announced.
The NDA’s seat-sharing formula for the 243-member Bihar Assembly had allocated 101 seats each to the BJP and JDU, 29 to Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas), and six each to Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM.
The arrangement has exposed cracks within the alliance.
The JDU has objected to several seats from its quota being given to Paswan’s party and has refused to relinquish Sonbarsa, Rajgir, Ekma and Morwa despite multiple rounds of negotiations.
The party has gone ahead and allotted poll symbols to its candidates in these constituencies, defying the agreed seat-sharing pact.
The JDU conceded only two seats — Tarapur, a sitting seat, and Teghra — while securing Kahalgaon from the BJP in exchange for Tarapur.
The BJP, meanwhile, retained control of its prominent constituencies by refusing to cede Danapur, Lalganj, Hisua, and Arwal to Paswan, instead fielding its own candidates there.
Paswan’s party has been allotted two BJP constituencies — Govindganj and Brahmapur — where LJP (RV) candidate Hulas Pandey has received his party’s symbol.
Tensions have also surfaced in the camp of RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha, who protested the decision to allot the Mahua seat from his party’s share to the LJP (RV).
In response, Kushwaha withheld election symbols from all his candidates and convened an emergency meeting.
“Nothing is well in NDA. I am going to Delhi. Some pondering needs to be done on the decisions that are being made in the NDA,” he told reporters before leaving for the capital, where he is scheduled to meet Union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah on Wednesday.
While HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi has already distributed poll symbols to all six of his candidates, the JDU has done the same for over 70 of its nominees, even before officially releasing lists.
The Opposition was quick to highlight the cracks in the NDA.
“The way people have gathered today assures us Tejashwi Yadav is going to win,” RJD leader Misa Bharti said when her brother, Tejashwi Yadav, went to file his nomination from the family’s pocket borough on Wednesday.
“The Mahagathbandhan will form the government, and Tejashwi will become the chief minister,” she declared.
On Kushwaha’s remarks, she added, “They quickly announced all the seats. The situation is not good in the NDA, but in the Mahagathbandhan, all is well.”
The LJP (Ram Vilas) is expected to announce candidates for eight more seats soon.
Both the JDU and LJP (RV) had eyed five key constituencies — Sonbarsa, Rajgir, Gaighat, Ekma, and Morwa. Despite these being allotted to the LJP (RV), the JDU has fielded its own nominees in each.
Prashant Kishor’s no to poll ticket
Amid the churn within the NDA, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor announced that he will not contest the upcoming polls, calling it a decision taken “in the larger interest of the party.”
He said his party expects a “decisive mandate” and promised strong action against corruption if elected.
“If I were to contest, it would have distracted me from the necessary organisational work,” Kishor said, adding that another candidate will contest from Raghopur against Tejashwi Yadav.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, the JDU had contested 115 seats and the BJP 110, while Paswan’s party had gone solo.
The current impasse over seat distribution has delayed the NDA’s campaign rollout for the 2025 polls.
The Bihar Assembly elections will take place in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results scheduled for declaration on November 14.