BJP drops 10 MLAs in first list for Bihar, both Deputy CMs fielded

The BJP on Tuesday released its first list of 71 candidates for next month’s Bihar Assembly elections, repeating around 50 candidates, dropping 10 sitting MLAs, and including several fresh faces.
Among the big names in the list are Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary (Tarapur) and Vijay Kumar Sinha (Lakhisarai), former Deputy CMs Tarkishore Prasad (Katihar) and Renu Devi (Bettiah), and minister and former state BJP president Mangal Pandey (Siwan). Ministers Krishna Kumar Rishi (Banmankhi), Jibesh Kumar (Jale), Nitish Mishra (Jhanjharpur), and Nitin Nabin (Bankipur) also got tickets.
As part of the seat-sharing deal announced on October 12, the BJP will contest 101 of the state’s 243 Assembly seats, the same as ally JD(U).
Around 50 nominees on the first are sitting or repeat candidates, including prominent figures such as Sanjay Saraogi (Darbhanga), Awadhesh Singh (Hajipur), Rana Randhir Singh (Madhuban), Pawan Jaiswal (Dhaka), and Vinod Narayan Jha (Benipatti).
Samrat Choudhary, currently an MLC, will contest from Tarapur, considered to be his family’s traditional stronghold. His father Shakuni Choudhary represented Tarapur multiple times for different parties, while his mother Parvati Devi won the seat in a 1998 bypoll. The seat, however, has been with the JD(U) since 2010. Five years ago, it was won by the late Mewa Lal Choudhary of the JD(U).
Among the 10 sitting MLAs dropped are five former ministers and several veterans, a deliberate move to inject new energy into the state unit. The most notable omissions are Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, a seven-term MLA from Patna Sahib, and Arun Sinha, a five-term legislator from Kumhrar. The two Patna seats, long considered BJP strongholds, have gone to younger faces Ratnesh Kushwaha, a state minister and Patna High Court lawyer, and Sanjay Gupta, a former party youth leader and currently a general secretary.
Other senior leaders who have been replaced are Motilal Prasad in Riga, succeeded by Baidyanath Prasad; Mithilesh Kumar in Sitamarhi, replaced by former MP Sunil Kumar Pintu; Amrendra Pratap Singh in Arrah, replaced by former MLA Sanjay Singh Tiger; Rampreet Paswan in Rajnagar (SC), replaced by 30-year-old Sujit Paswan; Ramsurat Rai in Aurai, replaced by Rama Nishad, the wife of former MP Ajay Nishad; Nikki Hembrom in Katoria (ST), replaced by Puranlal Tudu; Pranav Kumar in Munger, replaced by Kumar Pranay; and Jaiprakash Yadav in Narpatganj, replaced by Devanti Yadav.
In Danapur, the party has fielded former Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who is set to return to state politics after losing to RJD’s Misa Bharti from Pataliputra in last year’s Lok Sabha polls. He will take on RJD MLA Ritlal Yadav.
Of the 71 nominees, nine are women: Renu Devi (Bettiah), Gayatri Devi (Parihar), Nisha Singh (Pranpur), Devanti Yadav (Narpatganj), Sweety Singh (Kishanganj), Kavita Devi (Korha–SC), Aruna Devi (Warsaliganj), Shreyasi Singh (Jamui), and Rama Nishad (Aurai).
Caste representation remains carefully balanced, with nine candidates fielded in SC-reserved seats and a notable proportion from the OBC and EBC communities.

Manjhi’s six

Union Minister Jitam Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) announced candidates for the six seats it has been allotted. The party contested seven seats last time and won four, with a vote share of 0.9%.

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Among the HAM (S) candidates are MLA Deepa Kumari, Manjhi’s daughter-in-law who has been renominated from Imamganj; Jyoti Devi, known for her work in women’s empowerment, from Barachatti; educationist Romit Kumar, the founder of Bal Bharati schools, from Atri; Manjhi family member Prafull Kumar Manjhi from Sikandra; Anil Kumar from Tekari; and veteran worker Lalan Ram, who lost to state Congress president Rajesh Kumar, from Kutumba.