Overview

• At a workers' meeting in Buxar on September 6, Nitish Kumar announced former minister Santosh Kumar Nirala as JD(U)'s candidate for the Rajpur (SC) seat and urged voters to ensure his win.
• The move comes before the NDA finalizes seat allocations, with allies indicating talks after the Vice-President election and Jitan Ram Manjhi asserting there is no dispute over sharing.
• Rajpur is viewed as highly competitive, with Congress’s Vishwanath Ram defeating Nirala in 2020 by 21,204 votes, as BSP’s Sanjay Ram also polled 43,836.
• Nirala is a two-time Rajpur MLA from 2010 and 2015 and previously served as transport minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
• Earlier the same day in Buxar, Nitish launched projects worth Rs 325 crore, including road works and a university named after Ustad Bismillah Khan, reinforcing a development message.