Congress fields five more candidates for Bihar polls

The Congress Election Committee (CEC) on Saturday (October 18, 2025) released its second list comprising five candidates for the Bihar Assembly election.

The party has named Shashwat Kedar Pandey for the Narkatiaganj seat, Mohammad Qamrul Hoda for Kishanganj, and Mohammad Irfan Alam for Kasba. In Purnea, the party has fielded Jitender Yadav, and Mohan Shrivasta from the Gaya Town constituency.

Earlier, the Congress had released its first list of 48 candidates. Till now, it has fielded 53 candidates.

So far, the INDIA bloc, of which the Congress is a part, has made no official announcement on seat-sharing even though the nomination for the first phase of the election ended on October 17.

The INDIA bloc, also called Mahagatbandhan, has fielded candidates against each other in 10 seats. However, the candidates have time till October 23 to withdraw their nominations before the first phase of polling on November 6.

JMM to go solo

With the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) not committing to a seat-sharing deal, Jharkhand’s biggest party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), said it will contest the Assembly election on six seats alone.

At a press conference in Ranchi, the party’s central general secretary, Supriyo Bhattacharya, said, “We have decided to field candidates in six constituencies in Bihar – Chakai, Dhamdhaha, Katoria, Manihari, Jamui, and Pirpainti. This number could go up to ten as well. The party will contest the elections in Bihar with full strength and will win.”

The party announced the names of 20 star campaigners, including Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren, apart from several MLAs.

“We have already discussed our allocated seats with all the alliance partners in Bihar, especially the RJD-Congress high command. But we have not yet received any response. The RJD has not adhered to its alliance principles in Bihar,” he said.

Earlier, a delegation, which included Jharkhand Urban Development Minister Sudivya Kumar and JMM central general secretary Vinod Pandey, had met INDIA bloc coordination committee head and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Patna and put forward their demands. 

In last year’s Jharkhand election, out of the 81 seats, the RJD was given six seats of which it won four. When Mr. Soren’s government was formed, RJD’s Godda MLA Sanjay Prasad Yadav was offered a Cabinet post.

Kishor’s dig

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday took a jibe at the Mahagatbandhan saying that the Opposition alliance would finish “third” in the Bihar election. He said the fight in the Bihar elections is between the National Democratic Alliance and Jan Suraaj.