Patna: The BJP on Monday announced that it will field Pradip Singh from Araria Lok Sabha seat and Rinky Pandey from Bhabhua Assembly seat in Bihar, just a day before the last date of filing nomination papers.
The party's ally Janata Dal (United) will contest from Jehanabad Assembly seat. All three seats had fallen vacant after the deaths of sitting representatives.
Announcement of candidates from NDA camp was delayed due to persistent pressure from smaller allies, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), who staked claim for the Jehanabad seat.
After failing to convince HAM's leader Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha, the BJP played a masterstroke and appealed the JD(U) to reverse its decision of not contesting by-elections which Nitish Kumar's party agreed to. However, it took hectic manoeuvring by the BJP and the top leadership summoned state president Nityanand Rai to Delhi. Senior leader and party in charge of Bihar Bhupendra Yadav played a key role and made both Manjhi and Kushwaha fall in line.
The JD(U) has fielded Abhiram Sharma from Jehanabad where RLSP was the runners-up in the last Assembly election. Sharma is in direct fight with RJD's Sudaya Yadav, son of Mundrika Yadav whose sudden demise necessitates the bypoll.
Araria Lok Sabha seat would be keenly watched from where the RJD has fielded Sarfaraz Alam, son of Mohammad Taslumuddin who represented this consittuency till his death. BJP's Pradip Singh had lost to Taslimuddin in 2014 by more than two lakh votes. However, JD(U) candidate finished third and combined vote of JDU and BJP was much more than the winning margin.
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