RJD's senior leader Tejashwi Yadav
Credit: PTI Photo
With the battle lines for the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 having been drawn, though no party has officially named its candidates of any seats, there are strong rumours that RJD's senior leader Tejashwi Yadav might contest from two seats.
Tejashwi, the elder son of party chief Lalu Prasad has been winning from his family bastion of Raghopur for the last two terms and is eyeing a hat-trick.
In 2015, he beat BJP's Satish Kumar by a margin of 22,733 votes before increasing the margin to 38,174 against the same candidate five years later.
Raghopur is a constituency which has been represented by both his father, Lalu, as well his mother, Rabri Devi.
Although the Yadav-dominated seat is not seen as much of a challenge for Tejashwi, if Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor indeed jumps into the fray, as he has been claiming for some time, people of the Vaishali district constituency will witness one of the most high-profile contests in recent years.
In the previous two elections, it was just a two-horse race between the NDA and RJD-led coalitions.
But this time, Kishor's arrival on the political landscape has literally turned every constituency into a three-cornered contest.
It is against this backdrop that rumours are floating about Tejaswhi likely to contest from a second seat.
According to reports in media, Phulparas constituency in the Madhubani district could be a second option for Tejashwi. The seat is currently being held by Sheela Kumari of the JD(U).
Though Phulparas is seen as a JD(U) stronghold, the grapevine is that if Tejashwi contests and wins from the seat, it will send a strong signal to Nitish Kumar and Co.
Assembly polls to the 243 seats in Bihar will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the counting of votes scheduled to be held on November 14.
The term of the current Assembly ends on November 22.