Patna, Oct 22 (PTI) Over 5.32 lakh voters are set to decide the fate of 150 candidates in the Bihar Legislative Council elections on Friday, with JD(U) MLA Anant Kumar Singh’s open rebellion against party nominee Neeraj Kumar dominating the headlines in the run-up to the polls.
Polling will be held for four Graduates and four Teachers constituencies from 8 am to 4 pm, with counting scheduled for October 27.
The combined electorate for the eight seats stands at 5,32,847, including 1,46,611 women and 37 third-gender voters.
Kumar, also a former minister, seeks to retain, for the fourth consecutive term, the Patna Graduates seat. An old loyalist of party supremo and former chief minister Nitish Kumar, the MLC faces a tough fight this time because of the open rebellion declared by Mokama MLA Singh.
Despite being a JD(U) legislator, Anant Singh has come out in support of Jan Suraaj Party candidate Anuj Singh, alleging that Neeraj Kumar had worked against him in last year’s assembly polls.
“I have no quarrels against anybody in the party. But, I must ensure that Neeraj loses his election and forfeits his deposit. He has spewed a lot of venom against me just to attract publicity,” Anant Singh had recently said.
Meanwhile, Neeraj Kumar, was admitted to a hospital on October 19 following a sudden illness, party sources had said.
Kumar, 59, who is a heart patient, complained of uneasiness following which he was taken to Medanta Hospital in Patna, where his condition was stated to be stable, the sources said.
The eight constituencies going to polls are Patna Graduates, Darbhanga Graduates, Tirhut Graduates, Kosi Graduates, Patna Teachers, Darbhanga Teachers, Tirhut Teachers and Saran Teachers.
The terms of the sitting MLCs are set to expire on November 16.
The BJP has fielded candidates for four of the eight seats, including three sitting MLCs seeking re-election. The JD(U) has nominated candidates for the remaining four seats.
The BJP nominees are sitting MLCs Nawal Kishor Yadav, N K Yadav and Sarvesh Kumar, who will seek re-election from Patna Teachers, Kosi Graduates and Tirhut Graduates, respectively. Besides, the party has fielded Narendra Kumar Singh from the Tirhut Teachers constituency, which is currently held by Sanjay Kumar Singh of the CPI, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc.
The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), led by Prashant Kishor, is contesting all the eight seats, and had replaced two candidates after the initial announcement of nominees – Bhushan Jha with Shyam Nandan Yadav in Tirhut Teachers constituency, and Ravindra Yadav with Mohammad Imtiyaz (Noorani) in the Darbhanga Graduates seat.
During campaigning, Kishor had repeatedly urged voters to bring in a change, sought the removal of Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, and demanded better pay and dignity for teachers, along with employment opportunities for graduates. PTI PKD RBT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.