Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced that he will not contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. "The members of the party have decided that I should focus on working for the victory of the other candidates of the party, so I am not contesting the elections," Kishor told ANI.
When asked about tensions within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing, Kishor said, "People of Bihar knew it already. They know that every person is fighting for their share of the loot. The more seats they get, the more they will get a chance to loot Bihar. NDA and Mahagathbandhan are on the same page. We don't know who is contesting for which seat."
Hitting out at Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, he further stated that the "Class 7th fail" will be defeated in Tarapur.
"From Jan Suraaj, a big doctor is contesting elections against Class 7th fail Samrat Choudhary. This time, Samrat Choudhary is going to get defeated in Tarapur," Kishor said.
As Bihar gears up for the 2025 Assembly elections, Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha today asserted that the opposition Mahagathbandhan is unable to decide on seat sharing, adding that party supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to begin the poll campaign tomorrow. Jha informed that the party will release its first list of candidates by the afternoon, with the second list to follow in a couple of days.
However, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mrityunjay Tiwari stated that internal rifts are visible within the NDA, saying that the alliance now stands for 'Naiya Doobegi Abki Baar'.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, according to an official statement from the party.
The BJP and Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest 29 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest six seats each.
The NDA announced its seat-sharing arrangement on Sunday.
The opposition Mahagathbandhan comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party and left parties. Discussions have been held by Congress leadership with leaders of its Bihar unit.
Meetings have been held at the residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and the Congress Party Parliamentary Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi.
Bihar will go to the polls on November 6 and 11, and the results will be declared on November 14.
The Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, announced its second list of candidates for 65 assembly seats in Bihar on Monday. The list includes candidates for 19 reserved seats (18 SC and 1 ST) and 46 general seats.
The total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
