Bihar Assembly Polls: BJP releases first list of 27 candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 27 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, which are scheduled to begin on October 28.

The list includes international shooter Shreyasi Singh and former MP Hari Manjhi. Singh had joined the BJP on Sunday. She will contest from Jamui constituency while Manjhi will fight from Bodhgaya.

Other prominent names on the list are Raghvendra Pratap Singh from Barhara, Ramnarayan Mandal from Banka and Brij Kishor Bind from Chainpur constituency.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that the Janata Dal (United) and BJP had reached an almost 50-50 seat sharing agreement for the elections. The JD(U) will contest from 122 seats, while the BJP has been allocated 121



seats.

Kumar added that the JD(U) will allot seven seats to Hindustani Awam Morcha from its quota, while the BJP was in talks to share its seat with the Vikassheel Insaan Party. There are 243 seats in the Bihar Assembly.

The Lok Janshakti Party, on the other hand, had on Sunday announced that it will not contest the Bihar Assembly elections with Kumar’s party due to “ideological differences”.

Elections in Bihar will be held in three phases between October 28 and November 7. The counting of votes will take place on November 10. This is the first election to be held in the country during the coronavirus pandemic. The Bihar Assembly has 243 seats, of which 38 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes. The results will be announced on November 10.