Several top leaders of Bihar, including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, a senior BJP leader, on Wednesday filed their nomination papers for the assembly elections.Yadav, who is the INDIA bloc’s face, scoffed at rumours that he was thinking of contesting more than one seat and exuded confidence that the voters of Raghopur, who have elected him twice, would give him a third chance in a row.
Sinha, who seeks a fourth consecutive term from Lakhisarai, filed his nomination papers in presence of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who had flown to the poll-bound state to boost the morale of party colleagues.
Meanwhile, the JD(U), headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also released its first list of 57 candidates.
Kumar was said to be in a sulk over the seat-sharing deal in which his party has to contest the same number of constituencies as the BJP, which was a junior ally earlier.
The list includes several ministers, who have been fielded from their sitting seats, besides other prominent leaders like state president Umesh Kushwaha and don-turned-politician Anant Singh, both of whom filed their nomination papers from Mahnar and Mokama, respectively, a day ago.
Some political observers were left wondering whether the absence of Muslims in the list was indicative of a dilution of the party’s “secular character”, which the longest serving chief minister took pride in having maintained despite having been an NDA partner.