JDU first candidate list: Amidst the preparations for Bihar Assembly elections 2025, there has been a major political upheaval in the ruling NDA alliance. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) (JDU) has released the first list of 57 candidates for the assembly elections, creating tension and resentment within the alliance. The biggest thing is that by releasing this list, JDU has given a direct challenge to the five major claims of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJP-R), which can create huge dissatisfaction among Chirag supporters.
JDU captures Chirag’s ‘dream seats’
Quoting sources, earlier it was believed that these seats could go to Chirag Paswan in seat sharing, but JDU has directly fielded its candidates on these seats in its list. JDU has announced its candidates on major seats like Morwa, Sonbarsa, Rajgir, Gaighat and Matihani. There is special political attention on Matihani seat, because last time Lok Janshakti Party had won from here, but later the winning MLA Rajkumar Singh joined JDU. Fielding JDU candidate on this seat can lead to direct conflict for Chirag Paswan. Data from previous elections show that RJD was dominant in Morwa and Gaighat in 2020, while JDU itself won Rajgir and Sonbarsa. This move by JDU may change the balance of power in the alliance and increase chances of conflict with pro-Chirag forces.
Trust in veterans, opportunity to 30 new faces
The mix of experience and youth power is clearly visible in the first list of JDU. The party has again fielded five cabinet ministers of the current government, who are considered a guarantee of victory.
Bets on ministers:
Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar (Nalanda)
Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary (Sarairanjan)
Information and Public Relations Minister Maheshwar Hazari (Kalyanpur)
Social Welfare Minister Madan Sahni (Bahadurpur)
Prohibition Minister Ratnesh Sada (Sonbarsa)
Mixture of new and old: The party has given a chance to 30 new faces, while 27 old candidates have been re-established.
Musclemen and women power: Three powerful leaders have also been included in the list. Apart from this, four women candidates have also been fielded, which include Kavita Saha from Madhepura, Komal Singh from Gaighat, Ashwamedh Devi from Samastipur and Raveena Kushwaha from Vibhutipur. JDU fielding candidates on these disputed seats in the first list itself shows that Nitish Kumar is ready to contest the elections on his own terms despite the complexities of the alliance, which has intensified the new stir in the internal politics of NDA.