- By Akansha Pandey
- Fri, 10 Oct 2025 10:15 AM (IST)
- Source:Jagran News Network
The Jan Suraaj Party (JasuPa) on Thursday released its first list of 51 candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, a move that triggered public displays of discontent among long-time party workers even as it featured several renowned personalities.
Scenes of anger and disappointment were witnessed at the party's camp office in Patna. Pushpa Kumari from Baniyapur was emotional, stating she had worked to build the organisation with party founder Prashant Kishor for three years, only to be overlooked for a ticket.
The candidate list was announced by former Union Minister RCP Singh, as Prashant Kishor was unable to attend the press conference. A social media post by state president Manoj Bharti earlier on Thursday had already hinted at the potential for internal discord following the announcement. Addressing the issue, senior advocate and new candidate YV Giri commented that in a large family like JasuPa, it is natural for many capable members to be claimants, but only one can be chosen per constituency.
Key Candidates And Political Speculations
The list includes several prominent figures:
Lata Singh, daughter of former Union Minister RCP Singh.
Jagriti Thakur, granddaughter of former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur.
YV Giri, a senior advocate of the Patna High Court.
KP Sinha, a former mathematics professor.
RK Mishra, a retired IPS officer (former DG, Home Guard), will contest from Darbhanga.
Ritesh Ranjan Pandey, a Bhojpuri singer, will contest from Karhagar.
The announcement confirmed that Prashant Kishor will not be contesting from his birthplace, Karhagar, ending long-standing speculation. However, another point of interest remains Raghopur, from where JasuPa will launch its election campaign. The seat is currently held by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who has won twice and is seeking a third term.
Social Representation And Historic Firsts
The list of 51 candidates covers 44 general and 7 reserved seats. JasuPa claims to have provided representation proportional to the population:
Extremely Backward Class (EBC): 17 candidates
Backward Class: 11 candidates
General Category: 9 candidates
Muslim Community: 7 candidates
Women: 7 candidates
Transgender (Mangalamukhi): 1 candidate, Preeti Kinnar, marking possibly the first time a major party has fielded a transgender person in Bihar's assembly elections.
The party also highlighted the nomination of Drig Narayan Singh of the Tharu community (Scheduled Tribe) from the Valmikinagar constituency, which is a general seat. JasuPa stated this fulfills its promise to nominate SC/ST candidates for general seats if a suitable individual is found.
Contradictions In Candidate Selection
While the list includes experienced political figures like former Legislative Councillor Kishore (candidate from Saharsa), it has also raised questions about the party's selection process. In Imamganj, where JasuPa secured its highest vote count (37,103) in last year's by-elections, the ticket has been given to Dr Ajit Kumar, who resigned from his government medical job a few months ago to join the party. The previous candidate, Jitendra Kumar Paswan, is now reportedly disgruntled.
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Further challenging the leadership's claim of a rigorous, merit-based selection process is the case of Lakshman Manjhi, who was given the ticket for the Bodh Gaya seat just three to four days after joining JasuPa from the Hindustani Awam Morcha.