Patna, Sep 20 (IANS) With political activity intensifying ahead of the upcoming Bihar Legislative Council elections, the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor announced candidates for five Bihar Legislative Council constituencies on Sunday.
The JSP founder and MLA from Bankipur, Prashant Kishor, declared the names of five JSP candidates who will challenge the incumbent MLCs from the BJP and RJD in their respective constituencies during a press conference.
Elections are set to be held in a total of eight constituencies – four belonging to graduates and four from teachers’ quota across 30 districts, the polls for which will be held in November.
Jan Suraaj has fielded SP Rai from the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency, Ravindra Yadav from the Darbhanga Graduates’ constituency, Afaq Ahmed from the Saran Teachers’ constituency, Divya Jyoti from the Patna Teachers’ constituency, and Rajnish Ranjan from the Kosi Graduates’ constituency.
The party had previously said it would contest all eight seats.
Earlier, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) announced its official candidates for six of the eight seats on September 11.
The RJD has fielded Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Patna Teachers’), Dilip Kumar (Patna Graduates’), Nitesh Kumar (Kosi Graduates’), Anil Kumar Jha (Darbhanga Graduates’), Prof. Jayram Yadav (Saran Teachers’), and Rashmi Vinayak Gautam (Tirhut Graduates’). The RJD has not yet revealed its candidates for the Darbhanga Teachers’ and Tirhut Teachers’ seats.
Patna, Darbhanga, Saran, and Tirhut comprise the Teachers’ constituencies, while the Graduates’ constituencies include Patna, Darbhanga, Kosi, and Tirhut.
Jan Suraaj’s entry into the fray is likely to turn the fight for these seats into a multi-cornered contest.
Meanwhile, the NDA is preparing to field candidates supported by the BJP and JD(U).
In the MLC polls, the organisational strength of the party, candidates’ standing among teacher and graduate voters, and their local influence are likely to play a pivotal role in deciding the poll outcome.
–IANS
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