Even as the political atmosphere in Bihar charged up , the BJP on Tuesday night released the first list of 43 candidates for the high-stakes Bihar polls, giving per major representation to those from SC and backward castes in an apparent attempt to target the base of rival JD(U)-RJD combine.
Five nominees in the list are Yadavs, the most numerous OBC group which has traditionally backed RJD’s Lalu Prasad but is being vigorously wooed by BJP.
Over 50 per cent of the candidates are women and youth while close to 60 per cent belong to SC and backward castes, BJP leader and Union Minister JP Nadda told media while releasing the list after the meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee. he party has also tried to keep its core support base of upper castes happy with several Brahmins, Bhumihars, Rajputs and Kayashthas given tickets.
The list underscored party’s attempts to wean Yadavs away from Lalu Prasad and ensuring that sections of backward castes, upper castes and Dalits give solid backing to the NDA in what is being seen a prestige battle for Modi, who has pulled out all stops to wrest the state from ally-turned-foe Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).
BJP’s leader in the outgoing Assembly, Nand Kishore Yadav, was among those whose names were announced on Tuesday. He will contest from Patna Sahib.

As expected by several quarters,No Muslim figured in the list which contained names for mostly those seats over which there is unanimity in the party. The subsequent lists will have Muslim names assured J P Nadda, flanked by Bihar BJP chief Mangal Pandey, Bihar in-charge Bhupender Yadav and another state leader Shahnawaz Hussain.The list included names of 19 candidates for the first phase and 15 for the second while nine others are for the seats going to polls later.
Meanwhile the grand alliance of the Congress the JD(U) and the RJD approached the Election Commission Wednesday seeking suspension of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio address ‘Mann ki Baat’ until completion of the Bihar elections. They said “permitting” him to use the “official mass media” would give him and the BJP an “unfair advantage”.The next episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’ is slated for broadcast on September 20.
BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma described the move as “childish” and noted that the Congress had made a similar demand during earlier assembly polls, including in Haryana, but the EC had rejected it. “They can see the writing on the wall that their defeat is certain in Bihar… They are desperate,” Sharma said.
The entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi and the decision to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar may end up helping the Bharatiya Janata Party by default.
The BJP is hoping to wrest power from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the polls due to be held in October-November, had performed poorly in the last Lok Sabha elections in the Seemanchal area where Owaisi’s outfit intends to field its candidate
Political observers believe that Owaisi’s presence might lead to a split in the Muslim votes, especially those of youths, in the coming polls. But the BJP sounded confident of doing well in Seemanchal with or without his entry. The party’s national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said that his party would fight the polls with all its might and win the seats in the region.