Bihar by-polls: RJD names candidates for 3 seats, one to be contested by CPI(ML)

Patna: The I.N.D.I.A. bloc in Bihar on Sunday announced candidates for by-polls to four assembly seats of the state, scheduled next month, three of which fell vacant upon its MLAs getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

The announcement came at a press conference addressed by state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, his RJD counterpart Jagadanand Singh and leaders of CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M).

Three of the seats, Ramgarh, Belaganj and Imamganj, will be contested by RJD, while the CPI(ML) will seek to retain Tarari.

From Ramgarh, the RJD candidate is Ajit Singh, a son of Jagadanand Singh and brother of Sudhakar Singh whose election to Lok Sabha from Jehanabad necessitated the by-poll.

In Belaganj, Vishwanath Kumar Singh will be making his debut from the seat represented, formerly, by his father Surendra Prasad Yadav, now the MP from Jehanabad.

In Imamganj, the only seat which the INDIA bloc seeks to wrest from BJP-led NDA, the RJD has given ticket to Roshan Manjhi, a former member of the Zilla Parishad in Gaya.

The CPI(ML)'s candidate in Tarari is Raju Yadav, who had in 2019 unsuccessfully contested Arrah Lok Sabha seat which was wrested this year, from two-term BJP MP and former Union Minister R K Singh by Sudama Prasad whose election necessitated the by-poll.

From the NDA camp, BJP has announced its candidates for Ramgarh and Tarari. Ramgarh candidate Ashok Kumar Singh is a former MLA while Tarari nominee Vishal Prashant is son of several term former MLA Sunil Pandey.

Imamganj will be contested by ally Hindustani Awam Morcha of Jitan Ram Manjhi whose election from Gaya Lok Sabha seat necessitated the by-poll.

Speculations are rife that the party will field Deepa Manjhi, married to Manjhi's son and state minister Santosh Suman. A formal announcement is likely in a day or two.

Belaganj is likely to be fought by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), the runner-up of 2020 assembly polls. The party is yet to reveal its cards.

Much spotlight, in the by-polls being held a year ahead of the all important assembly elections, is on Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj which has thrown its hat in the ring and named candidates for all seats except Ramgarh where an announcement is expected in a few days.

The last date for filing nomination papers is October 25. Polling will take place on November 13 and votes are to be counted on November 23.