The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), established by former political strategist Prashant Kishor, has officially released its first list of 51 candidates for Bihar’s upcoming two-phase Assembly elections. The Election Commission previously set the polling dates for November 6 and 11, with results to be declared on November 14.
It’s worth noting that these developments follow recent allegations by the Bihar BJP, who claimed that Prashant Kishor had amassed significant funds through shell companies.
Earlier, the Jan Suraaj Party had also submitted a memorandum to the Bihar Governor advocating for the removal of the Deputy Chief Minister.
The candidate list demonstrates a conscious effort towards diverse representation: 17 candidates hail from the Extremely Backward Class (EBC), 11 from Backward Classes (BC), 7 from Scheduled Castes, 8 from minority communities, and 8 from the General Category. This composition aligns with Bihar’s 2022 caste survey report, which identified EBC as the largest demographic at 36.0148% of the population, followed by BC (27.1286%), Scheduled Caste (19.6518%), and the General Category (15.5224%).
Key candidates announced include senior JSP leader R.K. Mishra, who will vie for the Darbhanga town Assembly seat, and prominent Patna High Court lawyer Y.V. Giri, representing the party in the Manjhi constituency of Saran district. Also among the nominees are esteemed mathematician K.C. Sinha, contesting from Patna Central’s Kumhrar constituency, and party leader Kishore Kumar Munna from Saharsa. Adding a touch of popular appeal, Bhojpuri film singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey will stand as the JSP candidate in the Brahmin-dominated Kargahar constituency of Rohtas district.
JSP’s national president, Uday Singh, stated that a second list of candidates is expected to be announced on October 11 or 12, with further lists following every one to two days due to the approaching election. Singh shared these details with a large gathering of media at Prashant Kishor’s Patliputra Colony residence.
While Prashant Kishor himself was absent during the initial candidate unveiling, he is scheduled to launch the party’s election campaign on October 11 from the Raghopur (Vaishali) Assembly constituency. This particular seat is notable as it has been consistently won by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, who also serves as the Leader of Opposition, in the last two terms (2015 and 2020).
Interestingly, JSP leader R.C.P. Singh, previously known for his close ties to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, read out the candidate names directly from a mobile phone, a list that was subsequently distributed to the press.
As the Bihar Assembly elections draw nearer, other political parties are also intensely strategizing behind closed doors to finalize their candidate lists. Reports suggest dissatisfaction among some ruling NDA alliance partners, including the Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), regarding the allocated seat distribution.
The opposition’s Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) bloc faces similar internal challenges. Constituent parties like Mukesh Sahani’s Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Pashupati Kumar Paras’s Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, and the Congress are actively negotiating for a larger share of the 243 Assembly seats. Notably, Mukesh Sahani has put forth demands for 60 seats and the Deputy Chief Minister position, leveraging the 9.6% Sahani population (boatmen and fishermen) in Bihar.
Despite the ongoing negotiations, political insiders in Bihar anticipate that both the ruling NDA and the opposition Mahagathbandhan will announce their full candidate lists for the upcoming assembly elections by October 12.