Overview

• BJP named 71 candidates for the Bihar Assembly election in its first official list announced by the party’s state unit.
• Patna Sahib incumbent and Assembly Speaker Nandkishore Yadav was denied renomination, with government lawyer Ratnesh Kushwaha fielded after his role in the Patna High Court case that stayed an AI video about the prime minister’s mother.
• The party highlighted a social mix of 20 OBC, 11 extremely backward, 8 women and 6 SC/ST candidates, with reporting noting community allocations including 11 Bhumihar, 7 Brahmin and 15 Rajput nominees.
• Ticket changes brought in new faces as minister Motilal Prasad lost Riga to Baidyanath Prasad, Mithilesh Kumar in Sitamarhi was replaced by Sunil Kumar Pintu and Swarna Singh was dropped from Gaura Bauram.
• Candidates were announced on seats such as Danapur, Arwal, Hisua, Lalganj and Tarapur that sources had expected for LJP (Ramvilas), while names were held back on several constituencies likely to go to JD(U) or LJP(R).