October 13, 2025 05:03 PM IST
First published on: Oct 13, 2025 at 05:03 PM IST
Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj on Monday announced its second list of candidates for 65 Assembly constituencies in Bihar, taking the total number of declared nominees to 116 out of the state’s 243 seats. The latest list includes 20 candidates from reserved constituencies – 19 Scheduled Castes (SC) and one Scheduled Tribe (ST) – and 45 from general seats.
Announcing the list in Patna, the party said the selection reflected its commitment to represent all social segments of Bihar. Among the newly announced candidates are 14 from Extremely Backward Classes (including four Muslims), 10 from Other Backward Classes, 11 from the general category, and 14 from minority groups.
A notable name in the second list is Abhay Kant Jha, a lawyer known for representing victims of the 1989 Bhagalpur communal riots without charging any fee. Jha has been fielded from Bhagalpur, a politically sensitive urban constituency.
Jan Suraaj has fielded an ST candidate, Kamlesh Paswan, from Harnaut, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s home constituency and a traditional JD(U) stronghold. The party founder, Prashant Kishor, said this was in keeping with its policy to offer representation to all communities. He added that by the time candidates are announced for all 243 seats, people from all castes and classes will find a place in the list.
Other key candidates include retired police officer DSP Nasrullah Khan from Nokha (Rohtas), academic Prof Shashikant Prasad from Phulwari (SC), and Dr Shahnawaz from Barharia (Siwan).
The list covers a wide geographical spread from Nautan in West Champaran to Wazirganj in Gaya and includes several professionals and academics. Dr Naval Kishore Chowdhary, a noted economist, has been fielded from Bathnaha (SC) in Sitamarhi, while Dr Mrityunjay will contest from Cheria Bariarpur in Begusarai.
The reserved ST representation comes from Manihari in Katihar, where Bablu Soren will contest. Among the minority candidates are Md Ekramul Haque (Thakurganj), Naaz Ahmad Khan alias Pappu Khan (Kesaria), and Aamir Haider (Bahadurpur). The second list also includes several women candidates, with Jan Suraaj fielding Tanuja Kumari from Islampur (Nalanda) and Indu Gupta from Hasanpur (Samastipur).
The party had on October 9 released its first list of 51 candidates, featuring several well-known professionals and social workers. That list included mathematician K C Sinha from Kumhrar (Patna), Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey from Kargahar, and dentist Dr Jagriti Thakur, granddaughter of former chief minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, from Morwa (Samastipur).
The list also featured a transgender candidate, Priti Kinnar, from Bhorey (an SC reserved seat in Gopalganj), and seven women candidates overall.
In its first announcement, the party had allocated tickets to 17 EBC candidates, 11 OBCs, seven Muslims, one ST, and nine from the general category.
With both lists combined, Jan Suraaj has now named 116 candidates – 26 for reserved constituencies (25 SC, 1 ST) and 90 for general seats. The combined social composition includes a significant representation from EBCs, minorities, and women, in line with Kishor’s earlier pledge to ensure “proportional participation of all communities”.
With Kishor travelling to Hasanpur – Tejashwi Yadav’s constituency – on Saturday, speculation had been rife that Jan Suraaj would be announcing the candidate from the seat in its second list, but no declaration has been made so far.