Bihar: Over 70 candidates file nomination papers for four seats going to polls in Phase 1

More than 70 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the four seats in Bihar where voting will take place in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, the election department said on Thursday.

The maximum number of candidates were in Gaya (22), followed by Aurangabad (21), Nawada (17) and Jamui (12).

Scrutiny is scheduled for March 30 while April 2 is the last date for withdrawal.

All the four seats are likely to witness a straight contest between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc and three candidates each from both sides filed nomination papers on the final day.

The NDA candidates were former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi (Gaya), Vivek Thakur (Nawada) and Arun Bharti (Jamui).

Nomination papers were also filed by Abhay Kushwaha (Aurangabad), Archana Ravidas (Jamui) and Kumar Sarvajeet (Gaya), all candidates of the RJD, which is a part of the INDIA bloc but has ruffled many feathers by giving party tickets for a number of seats without taking allies, particularly the Congress, into confidence.

Notably, former Congress MP Nikhil Kumar was expected to be the INDIA candidate from Aurangabad where the RJD has fielded a JD(U) turncoat.

Sitting BJP MP from Aurangabad, Sushil Kumar Singh had filed his nomination papers earlier this week.

Manjhi, 79, who heads Hindustani Awam Morcha, filed his nomination papers for the reserved Gaya seat in the presence of state BJP chief Samrat Choudhary, who is also a deputy CM, minister Shravan Kumar, who belongs to the JD(U), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan.

The NDA leaders also addressed a public meeting organised on the occasion, before heading for Jamui, which is also a reserved seat.

Arun Bharti, married to Chirag Paswan's sister, has been fielded by the party of his brother-in-law who is shifting base to Hajipur after having represented Jamui in Lok Sabha for two consecutive terms.

In Nawada, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP candidate Vivek Thakur filed nomination papers in the presence of the aforementioned leaders, besides Union minister Giriraj Singh, who had made his Lok Sabha debut from the seat in 2014 but moved to Begusarai five years later.

Thakur's principal rival is RJD candidate Shravan Kumar Kushwaha who had filed his nomination papers earlier this week.

In all the four seats, NDA leaders asserted that they were aiming to win ''all 40 seats in Bihar'' to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve the target of ''370 for BJP'' and ''400 plus'' for the coalition.

In contrast to the fanfare with which NDA candidates filed their nomination papers, it was a low-key affair for nominees of the RJD, with top party leaders Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav away in Delhi.

The Mahagathbandhan, the INDIA bloc's prototype, though confined to Bihar, is yet to make a formal announcement of seat-sharing among RJD, Congress and three Left parties.

CPI and CPI(M), both of which are likely to settle for one seat each, have announced their respective candidates from Begusarai and Khagaria.

Mahagathbandhan leaders in Bihar, meanwhile, said a press conference will be addressed by Tejashwi Yadav here on Friday when a formal, albeit belated, announcement was likely.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has also fielded candidates in all the four seats.

Meanwhile, in a related development, two-term JD(U) MP Santosh Kushwaha also filed his nomination papers for the Purnea Lok Sabha seat which goes to polls in the second phase.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)