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Lok Sabha Election 2024: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday officially declared candidates for 22 out of 23 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, as part of the opposition Mahagathbandhan. Lalu Prasad‘s daughters, Rohini Acharya and Misa Bharti, are among the nominees.
According to a statement by RJD state president Jagdanand Singh, Acharya will contest from Saran, a seat her father had won multiple times.
Prasad held the seat until his disqualification in 2013 due to a conviction in a fodder scam. Bharti, his eldest daughter, currently serving her second term in the Rajya Sabha, will contest from the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency.
PTI reported that citing a party official mentioned that the RJD has not yet named a candidate for Siwan, where the late Mohd Shahabuddin had been the party’s candidate for many years.
Following Shahabuddin’s disqualification, his widow Heena was unable to secure victory in the seat.
It is believed that Heena’s relationship with Lalu Prasad and his family is strained. Under a seat-sharing agreement within the Mahagathbandhan coalition, the RJD has retained 26 out of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, allocating nine seats to the Congress and five to the Left parties.
Last week, the RJD finalized an agreement with former Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni, whose Vikashsheel Insaan Party has been allocated three seats from its share.
The RJD announced the candidates for 22 seats altogether, including five seats where elections are slated for the first two phases, and nominees from the party have already submitted their nomination papers. Sudhakar Singh has been granted an RJD ticket for the Buxar Lok Sabha seat, while Ali Asharaf Fatmi and Surendra Prasad will contest from Madhubani and Jehanabad respectively.
Anita Kumari Mahto from Munger is also included in the list of candidates. She secured a party ticket after marrying notorious gangster Ashok Mahto. Ashok Mahto harboured political aspirations but couldn’t contest independently due to a criminal conviction.
The names of candidates such as Acharya, Bharti, Sudhakar Singh, Ali Asharaf Fatmi, and Surendra Prasad had previously been approved by the RJD supremo.
Other RJD candidates include Kumar Sarvjeet (Gaya), Shrawan Kumar Kushwaha (Nawada), Bima Bharti (Purnea) and Archana Ravidass (Jamui). All four have already filed their nominations.
The RJD also nominated Jai Prakash Yadava from Banka, Lalit Yadav from Darbhanga and Chandrahas Chaupal from Supaul.
The party fielded Vijay Kumar Shukla from Vaishali, Abhay Kumar Kushwaha from Aurangabad, Shichandra Rai from Hajipu and Shahnawaz Alam from Araria.
Alok Kumar Mehta will contest on an RJD ticket from Ujiyarpur, Arjun Ai from Sitamarhi, Deepak Yadav from Valmikinagar, Ritu Jaiswal from Seohar and Kumar Chandradeep from Madhepura.
The Lok Sabha elections to 40 seats in Bihar will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Published: 10 Apr 2024, 08:36 AM IST
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