Grand Alliance announces its candidates for Bihar bypolls

Patna, Oct 20 (IANS) The Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) in Bihar on Sunday announced its candidates for the upcoming by-elections on November 13 for four assembly seats - Imamganj, Belaganj, Ramgarh, and Tarari.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would contest the bypolls on three while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI-ML] would contest one seat.

Raushan Kumar Manjhi alias Rajesh Manjhi from RJD will contest the Imamganj seat, Vishwanath Kumar Singh from RJD will contest the Belaganj seat and Ajit Kumar Singh from RJD will contest the Ramgarh seat.

Raju Yadav from CPI-ML will contest the Tarari seat.

The decision came after a meeting of key leaders from the Grand Alliance, including RJD state president Jagadanand Singh, Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, and representatives from CPI-ML, CPIM, and VIP. The candidates were approved by RJD national president Lalu Prasad Yadav and the leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav.

Congress state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, along with other leaders, emphasised that the Grand Alliance is prepared to contest the elections with full strength and is confident of defeating the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates.

Meanwhile, the NDA and the Jan Suraaj have also announced candidates for three seats.

The BJP has named Vishal Prashant for the Tarari seat and Ashok Kumar Singh for the Ramgarh seat. Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAMS), led by Jitan Ram Manjhi, has selected Deepa Manjhi, his daughter-in-law, to contest from Imamganj.

JD-U has yet to announce a candidate for the Belaganj constituency.

The Jan Suraaj, led by political strategist Prashant Kishor, has fielded Lt. General Krishna Singh from Tarari, Professor Khilafath Hussain from Belaganj, and Jitendra Paswan from Imamganj.

However, the Jan Suraaj has not yet declared a candidate for the Ramgarh constituency.

The last date for filing nominations is October 25 and its deadline for withdrawal of candidacy by October 30, the date of polling is November 13 and the result will be announced on November 23.

The by-election is shaping up to be a significant political event, with the Grand Alliance, NDA, and Jan Suraaj all positioning themselves to secure these important seats and making the contest triangular.

--IANS

ajk/dan