BJP first list for Bihar polls decoded: Caste balance, fresh faces, political pedigree

The party will contest 101 seats in the two-phase Bihar election on November 6 and 11.

In a state where electoral politics is heavily influenced by social equations, the BJP’s first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar election reveals the party’s careful strategy.

The list features 13 ministers and nine women candidates. The party will contest 101 seats in the two-phase Bihar election on November 6 and 11. The Bihar assembly comprises 243 seats.

Balance of old and new

While the list features both the Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, the BJP has dropped Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav from the Patna Sahib seat, which he has represented since 2010. Ratnesh Kushwaha replaced him.

The other sitting MLAs who have been dropped are Motilal Prasad (Riga), Ramprit Paswan (Rajnagar), Jai Prakash Yadav (Narpatganj), Ram Surat Kumar (Aurai), Nikki Hembram (Katoria), Arun Sinha (Kumhrar), Amrendra Pratap (Ara), Pranav Kumar (Munger), and Swarna Singh (Gaura Bauram).

Choudhary, who last contested the Assembly election in 2010 from the Parbatta Assembly seat, will contest from the Tarapur seat while Sinha is retained as the candidate from his Lakhisarai Assembly seat.

Former MP Ram Kripal Yadav, who lost the Patliputra seat in the Lok Sabha election to the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Misa Bharti, has now been fielded from the Danapur.

The BJP also replaced its candidates in seven constituencies where they had lost in 2020, including Sitamarhi, Siwan, Danapur, Bikram, Arwal, Aurangabad, and Gurua.

Also, there have been some seat exchanges among allies in the ruling NDA. This time BJP candidates are set to contest in Tegra and Tarapur, which had been previously contested by JD(U).

Caste representation

The list also indicates a strategic social engineering effort by the BJP. It includes a significant number of candidates from OBC and EBC communities, alongside a strong presence from upper castes like Bhumihars, Rajputs, and Brahmins.

BJP media in-charge Danish Iqbal told The Hindu that all communities have been represented in the first list of the BJP. “Be it Other Backward Classes (OBC), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) and women are included in the list. Twenty OBCs, 11 EBC, 6 candidates from SC-ST communities in its first list. More than 50% of the tickets have gone to deprived communities,” he said.

According to him, 11 Bhumihars, 7 Brahmins, 15 Rajputs, and 15 Kayastha have been given tickets. “New faces have also got adequate space in the ticket lists in seats like Kumhrar, Patna Sahib, Rajnagar and Aurangabad,” he said.

Fresh candidates have been fielded in seats such as Purnea, Kishanganj, Rajnagar (SC), and Narpatganj, reflecting a mix of youth representation and caste-balance considerations.

Familial ties

According to reports, 11 of the 71 candidates (15 percent) have direct or immediate family connections to a political figure.

While Nitish Mishra from Jhanjharpur is the son of former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, Shreyasi Singh from fighting Jamui is the daughter of former Union Minister Digvijay Singh. Sanjeev Chaurasia (Digha) is the son of Governor of Sikkim, Ganga Prasad Chaurasia) while Nitin Naveen (Bankipur) is the son of Naveen Kishore Prasad Sinha who was a prominent MLA for the Patna West constituency.

Rahavendra Pratap Singh (Barhara)is the son of former state minister Ambika Sharan Singh while Rana Randhir Singh, a former minister in the Bihar government, will once again contest the Madhuban constituency as a BJP candidate. He is the son of the late Sitaram Singh, former MP from Sheohar.

Son of Brij Kishore Singh (former MLA), Arun Kumar Singh, will represent Baruraj while Devesh Kant Singh, son of Bhumendra Narayan Singh will contest from Goriyakothi.

Nisha Singh, who is the wife of former MLA Vinod Kumar Singh, will represent Pranpur, while Gayatri Devi, the daughter-in-law of former MLA Ram Naresh Prasad Yadav, will contest from Parihar. Also, Sujit Kumar, who is the son of senior BJP leader Sunil Kumar Singh, will contest from ( Gaura Bauram).