NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday completed the announcement of its candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, releasing its third and final list of 18 nominees. With this, the party has finalised candidates for all 101 seats allotted to it under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seat-sharing agreement.
Earlier in the day, the BJP had issued its second list of 12 candidates. Among the prominent names were singer Maithili Thakur, who will contest from the Alinagar constituency, and former Indian Police Service officer Anand Mishra, who has been fielded from Buxar. On Tuesday, the party had released its first list comprising 71 names, including Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, who will contest from Tarapur and Lakhisarai respectively, along with six sitting ministers.
According to the third list announced on Wednesday evening, Bina Devi will contest from Kochadhaman, while Sangeeta Kumari has been named for the Mohania seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes. Sanjay Pandey will fight from Narkatiaganj, Satish Kumar Yadav from Raghopur, Bharat Bind from Bhabua, Murari Paswan from Pirpainti, and Ashok Kumar Singh from Ramgarh.
With this announcement, the BJP has covered all 101 seats in its share. Party leaders stated that the selection process was based on local performance, organisational feedback, and social representation. The lists feature a mix of experienced politicians and new faces, reflecting the party’s attempt to strike a balance between continuity and change.
The BJP’s Bihar election in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier said that the NDA partners had reached a consensus on the seat-sharing formula. “The BJP and Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each, while the Lok Janshakti Party led by Chirag Paswan will field its candidates on 29 seats,” he said.
The Bihar Assembly elections, comprising 243 constituencies, will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, and the counting of votes will take place on November 14.
Political analysts suggest that the BJP’s early finalisation of candidates signals a readiness for an intensive campaign. The inclusion of popular and non-political figures such as Thakur and Mishra points to a strategy aimed at appealing to younger and first-time voters. As campaigning gains momentum, Bihar is set to witness a closely contested election that could shape the state’s political direction in the years to come.
