Congress names five candidates for Bihar MLC polls

Patna The Congress has announced five candidates for the October 23 Bihar Legislative Council elections, setting up direct contests with its alliance partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in three constituencies. Elections will be held for eight seats in the Upper House of the Bihar legislature, comprising four graduates’ and four teachers’ constituencies. The terms of the sitting members are due to end on November 16. The list, approved by Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, includes former Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, who has been nominated for re-election from the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency. The RJD has not announced a candidate for this seat. The Congress has also fielded Sanjay Yadav from the Patna Teachers’ constituency, where the RJD is not contesting. However, the Congress and RJD will face each other in three graduates’ constituencies. Congress has nominated Manoj Kumar Jaiswal from Kosi Graduates’, Rajnikant Pathak from Darbhanga Graduates’ and Asadullah Khan from Patna Graduates’. The RJD has already announced candidates for these three constituencies. The RJD had announced candidates for six of the eight seats last month, while indicating that decisions on the remaining constituencies were pending. With the Congress announcing its candidates, the two alliance partners will now contest directly in the three graduates’ seats. Other parties and candidates are also in the electoral fray for the council polls. Under the rules for graduates’ constituencies, voters must have held a recognised university degree for at least three years and reside in the concerned constituency. For teachers’ constituencies, voters must have at least three years of teaching experience in secondary schools, colleges or universities. Voters in both categories must also be enrolled on the relevant electoral rolls. Polling for the eight seats is scheduled from 8 am to 4 pm on October 23, with counting set for October 27.