Voting for the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections 2025 is to take place tomorrow. But, even after the last date for withdrawal of nominations passed, candidates on some seats withdrew from contesting the elections. Something similar has happened in the famous seat of Goudabram in Bihar elections, when Mukesh Sahni’s brother Santosh Sahni withdrew from the election field and announced his support to the RJD supported candidate.
Actually, elections are going to be held on 243 assembly seats in Bihar. In this battle, due to mutual agreement of the alliance, candidates in many assembly constituencies were forced to step back.
To strengthen the seat sharing, both the Grand Alliance and the NDA played the game of withdrawing their names while avoiding ‘friendly contest’. On 11 important assembly seats like Gaudabauram, Jehanabad, Munger, Danapur, Brahmapur, Gopalganj, Madhaura, Tarapur, Buxar, Baburahi and Warsaliganj, candidates withdrew their names at the last moment or their papers were rejected. In many of these cases, the Jan Suraj Party suffered a severe blow, while the direct contest for seats between the NDA and the Grand Alliance has intensified. This created confusion among the voters also.
Jan Suraj gets shock on 4 seats
Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party suffered the biggest loss. Their candidates from Gopalganj, Danapur and Brahmapur (Buxar district) withdrew their names. Shashi Shekhar Sinha from Gopalganj, Dr. Satya Prakash Tiwari from Brahmapur returned the nomination at the last moment, while Akhilesh Kumar from Danapur could not file the nomination. Calling it a conspiracy of BJP to “intimidate”, PK said, “NDA forced our candidates. This is an attack on democracy.
Just two days before the elections, a big game took place with Jansuraj on Munger seat. In fact, just a day before the Bihar Assembly elections, a big political development has come to light in Munger seat. Jan Suraj Party candidate Sanjay Singh has left the party and joined Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA). He accepted membership in the presence of BJP candidate Kumar Prannoy and announced his support for the party. This step is being considered a big blow for Jan Suraj and Prashant Kishore, because the exodus of the candidates just before the elections raises questions on the status of the organization.
Madhaura: NDA lost one seat even before the elections, Seema Singh’s claim rejected
The nomination of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate and former actress Seema Singh for Madhaura seat of Saran district was rejected due to paper defects. This dealt a big blow to the NDA, because there was a direct contest with the Grand Alliance. However, later after the cancellation of nomination of Seema Singh, independent candidate Ankit Kumar has been supported, for which BJP and NDA have also agreed.
Munger and Tarapur: Example of opposition coordination
In Munger, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate withdrew his name and supported RJD. After withdrawal of nominations on three seats of the district (Munger, Tarapur, Jamalpur), a total of 39 candidates were left. In Tarapur too, an independent stepped back and announced to vote in favor of NDA.
Babubarhi and Warsaliganj: Unity of the Grand Alliance
Bindu Gulab Yadav, VIP from Madhubani’s Babubarhi, withdrew his name in support of RJD candidate. Similarly, in Warsaliganj of Nawada, a candidate also took action in the interest of the Grand Alliance. This has strengthened the alliance.
Gaudabauram, Jehanabad and Buxar
RJD’s Afzal Ali was expelled from Gaudabauram in Darbhanga by the party, but he did not withdraw his name. After this, on Tuesday, Mukesh Sahni announced that his brother Santosh Sahni will not contest the elections. Mukesh Sahni says that if both Afzal Ali and Santosh Sahni contest the elections, the votes of the Grand Alliance will be scattered. Therefore our brother has decided to step back. In Jehanabad, an independent decided to withdraw at the last moment, while in Buxar, so as not to harm the NDA, Amarendra Pandey also decided to withdraw from the electoral field.