JDU has declared Santosh Nirala as its candidate from Rajpur seat for the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. The dispute over seat sharing within the NDA continues. Nitish Kumar, showing his stance, has started announcing party candidates.
Bihar Election 2025: In the run-up to the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025, a strategic game of one-upmanship is underway among the constituent parties of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) regarding seat sharing. However, instead of prolonged waiting, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has now begun announcing the names of his party's candidates directly. This move indicates his desire to avoid any delays in seat allocation for his party and to clarify the party's priorities.
NDA's Dilemma in Seat Sharing
There are five major constituent parties in the NDA in Bihar: JDU, BJP, LJP (Chirag Paswan), HAM (Jitan Ram Manjhi), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (Upendra Kushwaha). Differences among these parties regarding seat sharing are continuously escalating. The JDU has made it clear that they wish to contest at least one more seat than the BJP. Meanwhile, LJP and HAM have also put forth their demands. Consequently, the seat allocation within the NDA is facing a deadlock.
Amidst this, Nitish Kumar's announcement of his candidates has sent a clear message that the JDU will not wait for any delays or compromises on its traditional seats.
Santosh Nirala Becomes JDU Candidate
On Saturday, at an event in Buxar, Nitish Kumar announced former minister Santosh Nirala as the JDU candidate from the Rajpur seat. Deputy Chief Minister of BJP, Samrat Chaudhary, was also present during this event.
The announcement of Santosh Nirala as the candidate from Rajpur, a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, is considered part of Nitish Kumar's strategy. He has taken this step to reassure party leaders within the JDU that the party will maintain a b position by fielding its candidates on traditional seats.
Santosh Nirala had lost the 2020 Assembly elections to Vishwanath Ram of the Congress. He is considered the Dalit face of the JDU and has served as a minister in the Bihar government twice. He held the portfolio of the Department of Scheduled Castes and Tribes from 2014-2017, and then served as the Transport Minister from 2017-2020.
Nitish Kumar's Political Message
By announcing candidates before seat sharing, Nitish Kumar has conveyed several political messages. The first message is that the JDU will not compromise on any of its traditional seats. The second message to the BJP is that the JDU will not wait and will make decisions according to its priorities.
According to sources, the JDU has divided seats into two categories. The first category includes seats where the candidate's name is already finalized. The second category comprises seats where there is some deliberation regarding the candidate's name. Under this strategy, old candidates have been given opportunities on seats like Rajpur.
JDU's Final List of Candidates
The JDU has announced the names of several candidates on pre-decided seats. These include:
- Lekhi Singh from the Dhamdaha assembly constituency in Purnia district
- Madan Sahni from Bahadurpur, Darbhanga
- Sunil Kumar from Bhore (SC), Gopalganj
- Jayant Raj from Amarpur, Banka
- Umesh Kushwaha from Mahnar
- Shravan Kumar from Nalanda
- Jitendra Kumar from Asthawan
- Kaushal Kishore from Rajgir (SC)
- Narendra Kumar Niraj from Gopalpur
- Rajkumar from Matihani
- Damodar Rawat from Jhajha
- Siddharth Patel from Vaishali
- Ratnesh Sada from Sonbarsa
- Bijendra Prasad Yadav from Supaul
- Sudhanshu Shekhar from Harlakhi
- Meena Kumari from Babubarhi
- Sheela Mandal from Phulparas
- Ranju Geeta from Bajpatti
- Narendra Narayan Yadav from Alamnagar
- Anant Singh from Mokama
- Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha from जगदीशपुर
- Lalit Narayan Mandal from Sultanganj
- Manorama Devi from Belaganj
- Dheerendra Pratap Singh from Valmikinagar
The JDU is planning to claim seats including Shivhar, where RJD's rebel MLA Chetan Anand is currently incumbent.
NDA's Position in Bihar Assembly Elections
Bihar has a total of 243 assembly seats. In 2020, the JDU contested from 115 seats and won 47. The BJP contested from 110 seats and won 74.
This time, the number of NDA constituent parties has increased, which may lead to the JDU and BJP contesting fewer seats compared to 2020. Meanwhile, the demands put forth by LJP and HAM have further complicated seat sharing.
