Bihar Election 2025 Highlights: BJP releases first list of 71 candidates for Bihar polls

Curtains were virtually down on speculations that Prashant Kishor may contest against Tejashwi Yadav, as the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) on Tuesday declared its candidate from Raghopur, where the RJD leader is aiming at a hat-trick.

JSP national president Uday Singh handed the party symbol to Chanchal Singh for Raghopur, an assembly seat in Vaishali district. A photo of it was shared on social media.--PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the lone woman to hold the post among the 14 BJP-ruled states, will campaign in the Bihar Assembly polls and attend the nomination filing of the eastern state's deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha, officials said on Tuesday.

According to officials at Delhi CMO, she will reach Lakhisarai on Wednesday, where she will accompany Sinha for his nomination filing and will address a public meeting at KRK Ground there.

Later in the day, she will address a public meeting in Bihar Sharif in support of local BJP candidate Sunil Kumar.

CM Gupta is scheduled to return to Delhi the same day, the officials added. (PTI)

After joining BJP, folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur said, "I am very impressed with the PM and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Drawing inspiration from them, I am here to support them...I do not believe that joining a political party makes you a politician; I am here to serve society and take their ideology to each and every person...I am the daughter of Mithila, my soul resides in Mithila...Party will know what they have in mind for me; I am here just to support them. I will do whatever the party orders."--ANI

On Bihar elections, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader Manan Kumar Mishra said, "NDA will come with an absolute majority... The list is very balanced, and we will win all the seats...We are ready for the elections... NDA is fully united, and after the elections, NDA will form the government, and everyone is happy and satisfied."

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "The first list of 71 candidates has been released today, a blend of young and senior experience. NDA will contest all 243 seats with efficiency, and the people of Bihar have made up their mind that this is the first election in Bihar during the Amritkaal... The people of Bihar are not going to give any poisonous element any opportunity to flourish again... All parties in the NDA have harmony, cooperation, and a sense of unity regarding development."

"The Mahagathbandhan is fraught with internal conflicts. Disputes don't just end with seat announcements; they persist even after. Remember, even after the seat-sharing agreement for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the RJD didn't allow Pappu Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar to contest... They broke four MLAs from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). They plundered the Majlis by breaking four Muslim MLAs... As far as internal conflicts are concerned, they are clearly visible." --ANI

On being announced as party candidate from Bankipur, state minister and BJP leader Nitin Nabin said, "I want to thank the party's central and state leadership for having faith in me. I also express my gratitude to the people of Bankipur. There are many issues, including road connectivity in Bankipur, which are getting resolved."

On being asked about rumours of Nitish Kumar being upset, he said, "For politics of bargaining, Lalu Yadav ji floated such information in the market. Because he was unable to bargain with Congress, he did this. NDA alliance of five Pandavas - Nitish Kumar, PM modi, Chirag, Majhi ji, Upendra Kushwaha will end corrupt Kauravas."--ANI

On Bihar elections, Union Minister and JD(U) leader, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said, "If the leaders of the Mahagathbandhan want to contest the elections, they should do so with the support of the people. That is why we say that this is not an alliance but a gang of cheats....No one in our party moves forward without Nitish Kumar's consent. From seat sharing to the allocation of individual seats, everything is done with Nitish Kumar's knowledge and consent."

"These (Mahagathbandhan) people are not getting the support of the people in the elections, so they are indulging in malicious propaganda. Why would Nitish Kumar be angry? The NDA is united under Nitish Kumar's leadership and will contest the elections under his leadership... Nitish Kumar is the universally accepted leader of the NDA, and we are contesting the elections under his leadership," he added. --ANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming election for Bihar's 243-seat Assembly. Former Union Minister from the RJD and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Kripal Yadav has been fielded from Danapur.

Two Deputy CMs Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will contest from Tarapur and Lakhisarai.

Ministers Nitin Nabin and Renu Devi will contest from Bankipur and Bettiah, respectively.

Shooter and Asian Games medallist Shreyasi Singh will contest from Jamui seat.

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Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav to contest Bihar polls from Mahua as his Janshakti Janta Dal announces candidates for 21 seats. --PTI

The Samajwadi Party on Monday demanded the withdrawal of the Election Commission's new directive requiring Anganwadi workers to identify burqa-clad women voters during the Bihar assembly elections, saying that the move is against transparent, free, and fair polls. SP's state unit president Shyamlal Pal submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Election Commissioner of India through the state Chief Electoral Officer in Lucknow, alleging that the directive issued by CEC Gyanesh Kumar is "contrary to the rules of the Election Commission." The Election Commission on October 10 said special arrangements will be made at polling stations in Bihar for "dignified" identification of women voters in burqa or purdah.--PTI

RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav met senior Congress leaders on Monday evening to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement ahead of the Bihar assembly polls.

Sources said Yadav met Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal and the party's in-charge for Bihar, Krishna Allavaru, here. He was expected to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, but it did not materialise.

The two main parties are engaged in consultations over seat-sharing among the Mahagathbandhan partners ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, amid claims and counter-claims made by both sides on each one's stronghold constituencies. --PTI

The BJP in Bihar on Monday inducted two rebel leaders of the INDIA bloc who had won the last assembly polls on tickets of RJD and Congress, but had been sitting with members of the NDA inside the assembly after JD(U) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined it in 2024.

State BJP president Dilip Jaiswal welcomed into the party Sangita Kumari, who last week resigned from her Mohania seat she had won as an RJD nominee, besides Siddharth Saurav, a two-term Congress MLA from Bikram.

According to a statement issued by the assembly secretariat, Saurav resigned from his seat on Monday. (PTI)

The BJP on Monday launched a blistering attack on the RJD, claiming scams, manipulation in awarding government contracts and taking people's land after promising jobs were its model of governance.

This came after a special court here on Monday framed charges against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi and their son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state, in the alleged IRCTC scam case, setting the stage for a trial on October 27, ahead of polls in Bihar.

“Tejashwi Yadav is going to change Bihar with the charge of 420 (Section 420 of the erstwhile criminal code IPC referred to cheating) being framed against him by a competent court,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference. --PTI

In a move seemingly driven by disappointment over not being allocated a seat in the upcoming Bihar polls, the SBSP, a member of the NDA, announced on Monday that it will contest 153 seats in the state.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) National General Secretary Arvind Rajbhar made the announcement, stating that the party will reveal its candidates for the Bihar elections at a press conference in Patna on Tuesday. --PTI