JD(U) MADE A MOVE EVEN BEFORE SEAT SHARING, ‘FINAL 2025’

JD(U) MADE A MOVE EVEN BEFORE SEAT SHARING, ‘FINAL 2025’

9-SEP-ENG 8

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA-------------------------- Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 may still be far away, but the political stir has brought heat in the NDA camp. Talks between the constituent parties regarding seat sharing have not even started, but JDU has revealed its cards. The party has given a clear message to its potential candidates - "There will be no change in most of the seats." In fact, according to the report coming from inside JDU, two categories of seats are being considered fixed within the party. First, those seats where the name of the candidate is also almost final. Second, those seats where the ticket is confirmed, but some hard work is still going on regarding the face.

According to JDU sources, the names of the candidates have been almost finalized in more than two dozen assembly constituencies. Vijay Chaudhary from Sarairanjan in Samastipur, Leshi Singh from Dhamdaha, Madan Sahni from Bahadurpur, Sunil Kumar from Bhore, Jayant Raj from Amarpur, Umesh Kushwaha from Mahnar, Shravan Kumar from Nalanda, Kaushal Kishore from Rajgir, Narendra Neeraj from Gopalpur and Anant Singh from Mokama have already been named in the ticket list.

Interestingly, Nitish Kumar may this time give a chance to those candidates who lost in 2020 and stood second. Shivhar is a big example of this, from where Chetan Anand is in the JDU camp this time and can give a new turn to the party's strategy.

Even before seat sharing, JDU has started preparations to keep more than 30 seats in its account. This includes seats like Kuchaykot, Sakra, Benipur, Kusheshwarsthan, Mahishi, Barari, Bihariganj, Singheshwar, Triveniganj, Pipra, Raniganj, Parsa, Jehanabad and Ghosi. JDU has been a strong contender in these areas in 2020.

Reports coming from inside JDU show that this strategy is not only to reassure the organization, but also an exercise to build pressure within the NDA. If JDU decides its candidates even before the formal discussion of seat sharing, then the scope of talks for BJP and LJP will be limited.

This report also raises a big question on Nitish Kumar's "political timing" - does JDU want to strengthen its position in advance and keep the upper hand in the NDA? Or is it just a move to keep the workers excited?