By Neeraj Kumar
Patna: The Election Commission has announced by-elections for four assembly seats in Bihar: Tarari in Bhojpur, Ramgarh in Kaimur, Belaganj and Imamganj in Gaya. The by-elections will take place on November 13, with the results to be declared on November 23.
These by-elections are being held because the MLAs elected from these constituencies in 2020 have now become Members of Parliament (MPs) following the recent Lok Sabha elections. Jitan Ram Manjhi has become the MP for Gaya, vacating the Imamganj seat; Surendra Yadav, now MP for Jehanabad, has left the Belaganj seat open. Sudhakar Singh has won the Buxar seat as an MP for the RJD, causing the Ramgarh seat to become vacant. Similarly, Sudama Prasad of CPI(ML) has been elected as the MP for Ara, leaving the Tarari seat vacant.
All major political parties are preparing for the contest. Alongside the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA alliance, Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraaj is also planning to field candidates for all four seats. Kishore is expected to announce the names of his candidates soon.
Within the NDA, it is anticipated that the BJP will contest the Ramgarh and Tarari seats, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party HAM will field a candidate for the Imamganj seat, and the JDU will contest the Belaganj seat. On the other side, the RJD will likely field candidates for three seats, while CPI-ML will contest Tarari under the INDIA alliance.
For the Ramgarh seat, Ajit Singh, son of Jagadanand Singh, is expected to be fielded by RJD, while BJP is considering Ashok Singh as its candidate. Prashant Kishore’s camp is preparing to nominate Anand Singh for the seat.
In Tarari, CPI-ML plans to field Raju Yadav following Sudama Prasad’s election to the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the BJP may nominate the son of Sunil Pandey, a recently inducted leader with a strong local presence. Prashant Kishore is reportedly planning to nominate IPS officer Anand Mishra for the seat.
Imamganj’s seat is expected to go to someone from Jitan Ram Manjhi’s family, with his daughter-in-law Deepa Manjhi possibly standing as HAM’s candidate. Meanwhile, there is speculation that RJD may field Uday Narayan Chaudhary or Kshamta Devi, daughter of former MLA Bhagwatia Devi.
In Belaganj, the RJD’s stronghold, Surendra Yadav is preparing to nominate his son, Baidyanath Yadav, to contest the seat, while the JDU is still deliberating on its candidate.
