Bihar polls: After Nitish, BJP announces candidate before seat-sharing deal

PATNA: The BJP on Saturday announced its candidate for the Motihari assembly seat even though seat-sharing deal among the NDA allies has not been finalised. Pramod Kumar will be the partys candidate from the Motihari seat once again. The announcement was made during NDA workers conference held in Motihari, the district headquarters of East Champaran, on Saturday. The leaders present on the occasion appealed to electorate to support Kumar in the upcoming Assembly elections. Recently, chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar announced that Santosh Kumar Nirala would be the party candidate from Rajpur (reserved) constituency in Buxar district. Nitish had earlier served as a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Addressing NDA workers on the occasion, state health minister Mangal Pandey emphasised that Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, were trying to mislead people by raising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Opposition is making false allegations and trying to create confusion among electorates. However, people know the agenda of the Opposition and will not be misled by them. People have trust in NDAs development agenda, he said. Pandey urged the electorate to ensure the victory of Kumar to strengthen NDA in the upcoming polls. Kumars victory is crucial for NDA. Every seat is important as it would decide the future of Bihar and its development, he said. Kumar, 63, has been representing Motihari since 2005. He belongs to Kanu (Halwai) community. During his tenure as legislator, Kumar has focused on welfare initiatives. He is accessible to all, Pandey added. The NDA leaders slammed the Opposition for misleading people on SIR. People of Bihar will never support the alliance, which pushed the state decades back, Pandey said. The trend of announcing candidates much before the seat-sharing deal may be a new strategy of the ruling alliance to keep the Opposition in confusion, said a political analyst, Pramod Kumar. Sources said the BJP and the JD(U) may contest 101-102 seats together, while smaller alliance partners could get 10-20 seats each. Talks are on, with some leaders demanding a larger share of seats. According to sources, JLP(RV) led by Chirag Paswan is not happy with the number of seats being allotted to the party. The LJP(RV) may get 20 seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhis HAM and Upendra Kushwahas RLM may be offered 10 seats each. The BJP, JD(U), LJP(RV) and the HAM are the partners of NDA in Bihar.