RJD, Cong seal Bihar deal ... field Misa in Pataliputra
New Delhi: The battle lines have been drawn in the politically crucial state Bihar. The Mahagathbandhan has finally declared its candidates for the 37 out of 40 seats in the state. Names of the two candidates for Sheohar and Madhubani would be announced later.
Surprisingly, BJP rebel leader Kirti Azad, who had recently joined Congress, may not be fielded from any seat of Bihar as the Congress is yet to declare its candidates for Patna Sahib and Valmikinagar.
As Shatrughan Sinha, who is set to join Congress on April 6, is all set to contest from Patna Sahib seat and Congress planning to field Shakeel Ahmad from Madhubani seat after exchanging the Valmikinagar seat with Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP), it is very tough for the party to accommodate Kirti Azad. As per sources, the BJP rebel leader may be fielded from Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat or he may be shifted to Delhi.
After many hiccups and series of meetings with all the constituents of the Grand Alliance, the alliance of Opposition parties finally declared the names of its candidates on Friday. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has declared the names of candidates for 19 seats out of total 20 seats it is contesting, including one candidate of Communist Party of India-(Marxist-Leninist). The RJD has given one seat Ara Lok Sabha from its quota to CPM and the Left party will field Raju Yadav against the BJP's candidate and Union Minister R K Singh from the seat.
Among the RJD candidates is Misa Bharti, who is a RS member and eldest daughter of RJD present Lalu Prasad. Bharti will contest from Pataliputra against BJP's candidate Ram Kripal Yadav. Bharti was badly defeated by Yadav, a confidant of Lalu Prasad, in 2014. Tej Pratap Yadav's father-in-law Chandrika Rai has been fielded from Saran seat against BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The other candidates of the RJD are Bulo Mandal from Bhagalpur, Jai Prakash Yadav from Banka, Sharad Yadav from Madhepura, Abdul Bari Siddiqui from Darbhanga, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh from Vaishali,
