Picture : @NitishKumar/ X
Amid intense speculation that the National Democratic Alliance seat-sharing deal has left him infuriated, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave away Janata Dal-United tickets, by-passing the party’s earlier practice of announcing the names of candidates at a press conference.
According to media reports, On the other hand, the BJP, which has been put on the same pedestal as the JD-U for the first time in an assembly election, announced its first list of 71 candidates.
Springing surprises, it denied a ticket to Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, a seven-term MLA, while fielding Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary in a direct election after over a decade.
Health and Law Minister Mangal Pandey, a member of the legislative council, has also been fielded by the party for the assembly polls.
It was not immediately known how many JD-U candidates were given tickets during the day, as the CM’s residence kept bustling with activity, with aspirants turning up after receiving a call from the party chief.
However, prominent among those who did are minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, state JD-U president Umesh Singh Kushwaha (Mahnar) and gangster-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh (Mokama). Many of them also filed their nomination papers.
