Bihar election phase 1: From Tejashwi Yadav to Maithili Thakur, a look at key candidates

Tej Pratap Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Maithili Thakur

As Bihar prepares for the first phase of Assembly elections on November 6, the spotlight is on key contenders -- from Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav to Tej Pratap, Samrat Choudhary, Maithili Thakur, and others. Here’s a look at the prominent names in the fray--

Tejashwi Yadav: Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav is contesting his family stronghold Raghopur. He faces BJP’s Satish Kumar, who had defeated his mother, Rabri Devi, in 2010 by a margin of 13,000 votes. Tejashwi later avenged that loss with victories in 2015 and 2020, winning the last election by over 38,000 votes. The Raghopur seat was earlier won by Lalu Prasad in 1995 and 2000, before Rabri represented it in 2005.

Tej Pratap Yadav: Former RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, son of Lalu Yadav, who launched his own political outfit ahead of Bihar Assembly polls, will be contesting from the Mahua seat. Facing a stiff fight from RJD’s incumbent MLA Mukesh Kumar Raushan and LJP (Ram Vilas) candidate Sanjay Kumar, Tej Pratap enters a high-stakes battle in Mahua -- a constituency long considered an RJD bastion and expected to deliver one of the election’s most intense contests.

Samrat Choudhary: Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary is contesting the upcoming Bihar polls from the Tarapur constituency – which has been dominated by the JD(U) in the past two decades. Interestingly, Shakuni Choudhary -- father of Samrat Choudhary – won Tarapur twice -- first as an Independent and later after switching to the Congress in the 1990 Bihar Assembly election.

Maithili Thakur: Folk singer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Maithili Thakur will contest from the Alinagar constituency of Darbhanga. Thakur is pitted against RJD’s Binod Mishra and Biplaw Kumar Chowdhary from Jan Suraaj. In the 2020 elections, Vikassheel Insaan Party’s Mishri Lal Yadav clinched the seat, narrowly defeating Binod Mishra by 3,101 votes. Earlier, in 2015, senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui had won the seat.

Vijay Kumar Sinha: Vijay Kumar Sinha is all set to defend the Lakhisarai assembly constituency once again after achieving a winning streak in the past three Assembly polls in 2010, 2015 and 2020. His repeated electoral successes helped him rise through the ranks, serving first as Bihar Assembly speaker and later as the state’s deputy chief minister.

Umesh Kushwaha: JD(U) state unit chief Umesh Kushwaha has been nominated from Mahnar for the upcoming Assembly polls. The seat was won by RJD’s Bina Singh in 2020, whereas Kushwaha had secured victory there in 2015.

Nitin Nabin: Nitin Nabin, Bihar’s road construction minister and a prominent young BJP leader, has been fielded by the party once again from the Bankipur seat in Patna district. He has represented the constituency successfully for the last three consecutive terms.

Akhtarul Iman: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Bihar chief Akhtarul Iman has been renominated from Amour assembly constituency. The Amour Assembly segment falls under the Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2020 Assembly polls, Iman emerged victorious, defeating JD(U) candidate Saba Zafar.

KC Sinha: Contesting Bihar polls for the first time, professor and author Krishna Chandra Sinha has been fielded by strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party from Kumhrar Vidhan Sabha seat. He has served as the vice chancellor of several universities in Bihar, including Patna University, Nalanda Open University and Magadh University, and won some prestigious awards such as 'Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar' and 'Icons of Bihar'.