Nomination for 121 seats in the first phase of Bihar elections 2025 will start from October 10. There is turmoil in RJD regarding ticket distribution and tickets of many sitting MLAs may be cut. The party is preparing to field new faces on the seats vacant due to defection and other reasons.
Patna: The nomination process is going to start from tomorrow i.e. October 10 on 121 seats of the first phase of Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. This time the political turmoil in the elections is already at its peak and there is panic especially within the RJD regarding the ticket. If sources are to be believed, tickets of many sitting MLAs may be cut and the party is preparing to field new, strong candidates.
Danger of ticket being cut in RJD
RJD had strengthened its hold in many districts in the last assembly elections. But last year, during the trust vote of the NDA government, five RJD MLAs changed sides and joined the NDA. These include Chetan Anand of Shivhar, Bharat Bind of Bhabhua, Prahlad Yadav of Suryagarha, Sangeeta Kumari of Mohaniya and Neelam Devi of Mokama. Apart from this, Nawada MLA Vibha Devi and Rajauli’s Prakash Veer also joined BJP. In such a situation, RJD will have to field new candidates on these seven seats.
Apart from this, the party has expelled Tej Pratap Yadav from Hasanpur seat after six years of expulsion. Here too the party will field a new face. There is a possibility of political change on three seats of Chhapra also. Dr. Ramanuj Prasad from Sonpur, Chhote Lal Rai from Parsa and Jitendra Kumar Rai from Madhaura are in danger of being ticketless. However, the final decision will be taken by Lalu Prasad himself.
Preparation for 121 seats in the first phase
In the first phase of elections, counting of votes will take place on 121 assembly seats in 18 districts. In this phase, NDA has 62 seats, while the Grand Alliance is in a strong position on 59 seats. In NDA, BJP has the maximum number of 38 seats, while JDU has 24 seats. The grand alliance has RJD 41, Congress 8, CPI (ML) 7, and CPI and CPM control two seats each.
The Election Commission will issue the notification for the first phase on October 10. Candidates will be able to file nomination till October 17. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on October 18 and candidates will be able to withdraw their names till October 20. Promotion ends November 4 at 5pm.
Changes in RJD ticket and redistribution of seats will make the political battlefield of this phase more exciting. The competition between the old and new leaders, alliance equations and personal popularity will prove to be decisive. Caste equations and local issues in the state will also play an important role in the first phase of elections. The result of the first phase can decide the direction of politics of entire Bihar, because the reputation of many veteran leaders is at stake on these 121 seats. The challenge for RJD is to ensure victory with a balance of its old strong faces and new candidates.