The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday unveiled its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The party said it would announce the remaining 30 names soon.
Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary will contest from Tarapur, while his colleague Vijay Kumar Sinha will run from Lakhisarai. State Minister Nitin Nabin will fight from Bankipur, and Renu Devi will represent Bettiah. In addition, senior leader Mangal Pandey will contest from Sivan.
By naming key ministers early, the BJP has signaled that it wants to begin its campaign with strong leadership at the forefront.
NDA finalizes seat-sharing agreement
Earlier on Sunday, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finalized its seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar polls.
Under this agreement, BJP and Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will get 29 seats, while the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six seats each.
Soon after the deal, HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi reaffirmed his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed confidence in the NDA’s victory.
“I am heading to Patna now… By the way, let me tell you something I’ve said before and I’m saying again today… I, Jitan Ram Manjhi, will stand with the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji until my last breath,” Manjhi posted on X.
He added, “There will be prosperity in Bihar, with Nitish, Modi ji’s government will be there.”
BJP emphasizes alliance unity
Meanwhile, BJP’s Bihar president Dilip Jaiswal highlighted the unity within the NDA. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said, “The NDA alliance has announced the seat-sharing arrangement. I have been saying from the beginning that we five ‘Pandavas’ will contest the Bihar assembly elections with complete unity. We have announced the seat-sharing arrangement first and will start announcing the candidates from this evening.”
By stressing teamwork, Jaiswal aimed to project the NDA as a stable and cohesive force ahead of the elections.
Bihar set for two-phase election
The Bihar Assembly elections will take place in two phases — on November 6 and November 11. The vote counting will be held on November 14.
This time, the political battle will pit the NDA, led by the BJP and JD(U), against the INDIA bloc, headed by Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
With major alliances now finalized, both sides are gearing up for an intense contest that will shape Bihar’s political future.