In Pics | Key candidates to watch out for in Bihar PollsBihar on October 28 will become the first Indian state to hold elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The polling in the state will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7, respectively. The results will be announced on November 10. As all the parties gear up for an intense battle for votes, here's a list of key candidates to watch out for:
Tejaswi Yadav | Party: RJD | Constituency: Raghopur | Polling date: November 3 | In 2015, Tejaswi defeated the then BJP leader Satish Kumar from the constituency by over 22,000 votes. The seat is considered as the Rashtriya Janta Dal’s stronghold.
Tej Pratap | Party: RJD | Constituency: Mahua | Polling date: November 7 | A sitting MLA won the 2015 election by over 28,000 votes. Yadavs and Muslims are in majority in the constituency.
Jitan Ram Manjhi | Party: Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) | Constituency: Imamganj | Polling date: October 28 | A friend-turned-foe-turned-friend of chief minister Nitish Kumar is contesting the elcetion in alliance with tyhe NDA. In 2015, Manjhi won from the seat as an Independent candidate after defeating then JD(U) leader Uday Narayan Choudhary by over 29,000 votes.
Luv Sinha | Party: Congress | Constituency: Bankipur | Polling Date: November 3 | In his political debut, Sinha will be taking on BJP's Nitin Nabin, who won last elections by over 40,000 votes. The BJP’s Nitin Nabin has held the Bankipur legislative assembly seat since 2006. Before Nitin, his father Nabin Kishor Prasad Sinha represented the BJP in the constituency.
Shreyasi Singh | Party: BJP | Constituency: Jamui | Polling Date: October 28 | She hit the bullseye winning the Commonwealth Games shooting gold in 2018, but securing the pole position on her maiden election outing may not be an easy task for Shreyasi, the daughter of former Union minister Digvijay Singh, as she faces a formidable opposition in RJD strongman Vijay Prakash.
Anant Singh | Party: RJD | Constituency: Mokama | Polling Date: October 28 | A criminal-turned-politician and sitting Mokama MLA, is once again contesting from the Mokama assembly seat on RJD ticket. In 2015, he had contested as an independent candidate and won the seat by over 18,000 votes.