JD(U) announces LS candidates; OBCs, EBCs get preference

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) on Sunday announced candidates for all 16 Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in the state, with priority being accorded to Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes, the party’s core base.

According to the list made public at the JD(U) office in the presence of national vice president Vashisth Narayan Singh and Sanjay Kumar Jha, 12 of the party’s sitting MPs have been given another chance from their respective seats.

However, in the seats of Sitamarhi and Siwan, sitting MPs Sunil Kumar Pintu and Kavita Singh respectively have been denied tickets by the party which has hedged its bets on legislative council chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur and Vijaylaxmi Devi, who joined the JD(U) along with her husband Ramesh Singh Thakur just the day before.