BJP unveils first list of 71 candidates; Nand Kishore Yadav left out

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (October 14) announced its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11.

Among the 71 candidates, nine are women. Notably, Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav has been dropped from the list and replaced by Ratnesh Kushwaha. Health Minister Mangal Pandey, a member of the Bihar Legislative Council, will contest from the Siwan Assembly seat, while Ram Kripal Yadav, who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election to RJD’s Misa Bharti in Patliputra, will fight from Danapur.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, continued to distribute tickets to its candidates even as Tejashwi Yadav reminded party leaders that the INDIA bloc had yet to finalize its seat-sharing arrangement.

The RJD-led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) had failed to reach a consensus on seat-sharing on Monday (October 13) despite multiple meetings between the top leadership of the RJD and Congress in New Delhi.