The political landscape of Bihar is heating up as the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), spearheaded by renowned election strategist Prashant Kishor, unveiled its initial list of 51 candidates for the upcoming two-phase Assembly elections. These crucial polls are slated for November 6 and 11, with results expected on November 14.
Demonstrating a strong focus on inclusive representation, the JSP’s first list includes 17 candidates from Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), 11 from Backward Classes (BC), seven from Scheduled Castes (SC), seven from the minority community, and nine from the General category. This reflects a strategic alignment with Bihar’s demographic reality, where EBCs constitute the largest population segment at 36.01%, followed by BCs at 27.12%, SCs at 19.65%, and the General category at 15.52%, according to the 2022 Bihar caste survey.
Among the notable figures nominated by the JSP are senior party leader R.K. Mishra contesting from Darbhanga town, Patna High Court advocate Y.V. Giri from Manjhi in Saran district, distinguished mathematician K.C. Sinha from Kumhrar in central Patna, Kishore Kumar Munna from Saharsa, and popular Bhojpuri film singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey, who will vie for the upper-caste Brahmin-dominated Kargahar seat in Rohtas district.
Uday Singh, the national president of the Jan Suraaj Party, indicated that further candidate lists would be released swiftly, possibly on October 11 or 12. He emphasized the urgency, stating that “The list of party candidates will be released now every one-two day as there is less time left for the poll.” This announcement was made to reporters at Prashant Kishor’s Patliputra Colony residence.
Though absent from the announcement, Prashant Kishor himself is set to officially kick off the JSP’s election campaign on October 11. His campaign launch will be from Raghopur (Vaishali), a significant constituency currently held by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav since 2015.
The candidate names were formally presented to the media by JSP leader R.C.P. Singh, a former close associate of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who read the list from a mobile phone before its wider circulation.
Meanwhile, other political factions across the state are also scrambling to finalize their candidate rosters. Tensions are reportedly high within the ruling NDA alliance, with leaders like Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) expressing discontent over their allocated seat counts. A similar scenario is unfolding within the Opposition’s ‘mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance). Parties such as the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP), led by Mukesh Sahani (whose community of boatmen and fishermen makes up about 9.6% of Bihar’s population), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party of Pashupati Kumar Paras, and the Congress are still deep in negotiations to secure maximum seats in the 243-member Assembly. Mr. Sahani, in particular, is reportedly pushing for 60 seats and the Deputy Chief Minister position.
Political observers in Bihar anticipate that both the NDA and the ‘mahagathbandhan’ will announce their complete and final lists of candidates by October 12, just ahead of the election schedule.