Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | BJP releases first list of 71 candidates even as junior allies miffed over seats

The saffron camp has so far tried to assuage the ruffled feathers of junior allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha – both miffed over being allotted merely six seats each.

Patna: Amid tall claims of “all is well” and counter claims of “NDA will pay a price”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released the first list of 71 candidates. Significantly, the BJP has dropped the Bihar Assembly Speaker and veteran party legislator Nand Kishore Yadav, who won seven times as the BJP MLA from Patna Sahib Assembly constituency.

The saffron camp, which has so far tried to assuage the ruffled feathers of junior allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha – both miffed over being allotted merely six seats each as against Chirag Paswan’s LJP getting 29 seats to contest – has asked its Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary to contest from Tarapur in Munger district.

Samrat is presently an MLC and has been mired in controversy over his age certificate. Samrat had earlier been an MLA from Parbatta in Khagaria twice: in 2000 and 2010. This will be for the first time that he will contest from Tarapur seat, once represented by his mother Parvati Devi as well as his father and former Minister Shakuni Choudhary.

Similarly, the other Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was found to be a voter in Patna as well as Lakhisarai during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has been allotted a party ticket from Lakhisarai.

The other two former Deputy Chief Ministers – Tarakishore Prasad and Renu Devi – who were sworn in as Nitish Deputy in November 2020, replacing party veteran Sushil Kumar Modi, have been given tickets from Katihar and Bettiah respectively.

Former Chief Minister Dr Jagannath Mishra’s son Nitish Mishra, who is Industries Minister in Nitish’s Cabinet, has been allotted a party ticket from Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district.

The BJP, however, has denied tickets to Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh and singer Maithili Thakur. Both were in the news recently after the BJP roped in the two celebrities to throw their hat in the poll ring. But amid resentment within the saffron camp over the names of these celebrities, the BJP played it safe and did not field them.

“I am not unhappy at being dropped. Let the new generation take over. The party, cadres and voters have given me enough respect,” said Bihar Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, after being denied a party ticket on Tuesday. Yadav has been a BJP MLA since 1990.