The BJP on Wednesday released its second list of 12 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, featuring nine names who will contest for the first time, including renowned folk singer Maithili Thakur, and dropped three sitting legislators.
Among the dozen names are two women and two Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.
This takes the total number of BJP candidates to 83 — as per the NDA seat-sharing pact, the party has agreed to 101 seats — with the first list of 71 names announced Tuesday.
Maithili Thakur, who joined the BJP in Patna Tuesday, has been fielded from Alinagar — her maternal grandparents’ constituency — from where Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), the BJP’s former ally, had earlier fielded a candidate.
Thakur, who was earlier appointed as the ‘State Icon’ of Bihar by the Election Commission, had recently expressed desire to start her political journey from her own or her maternal grandparents’ constituency.
“I would like to go to my village area because I have a special connection with it. Starting from there will also give me a chance to learn. Meeting people, talking to them… I will understand more if I start from my village,” she had said.
Along with Thakur, another newcomer Chhoti Kumari was fielded from Chhapra as BJP dropped sitting MLA C N Gupta from the seat.
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Two other legislators denied tickets are Gyanendra Kumar Singh Gyanu from Barh, replaced by Siyaram Singh, and Kusum Devi from Gopalganj as the party chose Subhash Singh.
Former IPS officer Anand Mishra, who is a former member of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) is BJP’s face from Buxar, from where its candidate, former constable Parshuram Chaturvedi, had lost in 2020 Assembly elections. After exiting JSP, Mishra had contested as an independent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and lost.
#1
Smt. Renu Devi
Bettiah
Woman Candidate
#2
Shri Pramod Kumar Sinha
Raxaul
#3
Shri Shyambabu Prasad Yadav
Pipra
#4
Shri Rana Randhir Singh
Madhuban
#5
Shri Pramod Kumar
Motihari
#6
Shri Pawan Jaiswal
Dhaka
#7
Shri Baidyanath Prasad
Riga
#8
Shri Anil Kumar Ram
Bathnaha (SC)
SC Reserved
#9
Smt. Gayatri Devi
Parihar
Woman Candidate
#10
Shri Sunil Kumar Pintu
Sitamarhi
#11
Shri Vinod Narayan Jha
Benipatti
#12
Shri Arun Shankar Prasad
Khajauli
#13
Shri Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul
Bisfi
#14
Shri Sujeet Paswan
Rajnagar (SC)
SC Reserved
#15
Shri Nitish Mishra
Jhanjharpur
#16
Shri Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu
Chatapur
#17
Smt. Devanti Yadav
Narpatganj
Woman Candidate
#18
Shri Vidya Sagar Keshri
Forbesganj
#19
Shri Vijay Kumar Mandal
Sikti
#20
Smt. Sweety Singh
Kishanganj
Woman Candidate
#21
Shri Krishna Kumar Rishi
Banmankhi (SC)
SC Reserved
#22
Shri Vijay Kumar Khemka
Purnia
#23
Shri Tarkishore Prasad
Katihar
#24
Smt. Nisha Singh
Pranpur
Woman Candidate
#25
Smt. Kavita Devi
Korha (SC)
Woman Candidate
SC Reserved
#26
Shri Alok Ranjan Jha
Saharsa
#27
Shri Sujit Kumar Singh
Gaura Bauram
#28
Shri Sanjay Saraogi
Darbhanga
#29
Shri Murari Mohan Jha
Keoti
#30
Shri Jibesh Kumar Mishra
Jale
#31
Smt. Rama Nishad
Aurai
Woman Candidate
#32
Shri Kedar Prasad Gupta
Kurhani
#33
Shri Arun Kumar Singh
Baruraj
#34
Shri Raju Kumar Singh
Sahebganj
#35
Shri Mithilesh Tiwari
Baikunthpur
#36
Shri Mangal Pandey
Siwan
#37
Shri Karnjeet Singh
Daraundha
#38
Shri Devesh Kant Singh
Goriyakothi
#39
Shri Janak Singh
Taraiya
#40
Shri Krishan Kumar Mantoo
Amnour
#41
Shri Awadhesh Singh
Hajipur
#42
Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh
Lalganj
#43
Shri Lakhendra Kumar Raushan
Patepur (SC)
SC Reserved
#44
Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh
Mohiuddinnagar
#45
Shri Surendra Mehta
Bachhwara
#46
Shri Rajnish Kumar
Teghra
#47
Shri Kundan Kumar
Begusarai
#48
Shri Rohit Pandey
Bhagalpur
#49
Shri Ram Narayan Mandal
Banka
#50
Shri Puran Lal Tudu
Katoria (ST)
ST Reserved
#51
Shri Samrat Chaudhary
Tarapur
#52
Shri Kumar Pranay
Munger
#53
Shri Vijay Kumar Sinha
Lakhisarai
#54
Dr. Sunil Kumar
Biharsharif
#55
Shri Sanjiv Chaurasia
Digha
#56
Shri Nitin Nabin
Bankipur
#57
Shri Sanjay Gupta
Kumhrar
#58
Shri Ratnesh Kushwaha
Patna Sahib
#59
Shri Ramkripal Yadav
Danapur
#60
Shri Siddharth Saurav
Bikram
#61
Shri Raghvendra Pratap Singh
Barhara
#62
Shri Sanjay Singh “Tiger”
Arrah
#63
Shri Vishal Prashant
Tarari
#64
Shri Manoj Sharma
Arwal
#65
Shri Trivikram Singh
Aurangabad
#66
Shri Upendra Dangi
Gurua
#67
Dr. Prem Kumar
Gaya Town
#68
Shri Birendra Singh
Wazirganj
#69
Shri Anil Singh
Hisua
#70
Smt. Aruna Devi
Warsaliganj
Woman Candidate
#71
Sushri Shreyasi Singh
Jamui
Woman Candidate
#72
Sushri Maithili Thakur
Alinagar (81)
Woman Candidate
New Addition
#73
Shri Ram Chandra Prasad
Hayaghat (84)
New Addition
#74
Shri Ranjan Kumar
Muzaffarpur (94)
New Addition
#75
Shri Subhash Singh
Gopalganj (101)
New Addition
#76
Shri Kedar Nath Singh
Baniapur (115)
New Addition
#77
Smt. Chhoti Kumari
Chapra (118)
Woman Candidate
New Addition
#78
Shri Vinay Kumar Singh
Sonepur (122)
New Addition
#79
Shri Birendra Kumar
Rosera (SC) (139)
SC Reserved
New Addition
#80
Dr. Siyaram Singh
Barh (179)
New Addition
#81
Shri Mahesh Paswan
Agiaon (SC) (195)
SC Reserved
New Addition
#82
Shri Rakesh Ojha
Shahpur (198)
New Addition
#83
Shri Anand Mishra, IPS
Buxar (200)
New Addition
Indian Express InfoGenIE
However, two legislators — Ramchandra Prasad from Hayaghat and Birendra Kumar from Rosera — have been given tickets again.
Among the fresh faces are Ranjan Kumar from Muzaffarpur, Rakesh Ojha from Shahpur, Kedar Nath Singh from Baniapur — a seat previously contested by the VIP — and Mahesh Paswan from Agiaon (SC), which was earlier held by the JD(U).
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In its first list also, BJP fielded a candidate from a JD(U) stronghold Tarapur, which will see Deputy CM and MLC Samrat Choudhary entering the poll arena this time.
