The Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, has released its second list of 65 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. This announcement brings the total number of declared Jan Suraaj nominees to 116, covering nearly half of the state's 243 assembly seats. The party announced the list in Patna, stating the selection reflects its commitment to represent all social segments of Bihar.
According to the party, the second list includes 20 candidates from reserved constituencies, specifically 19 from Scheduled Castes (SC) and one from Scheduled Tribes (ST), with the remaining 45 from general seats. The party emphasized its focus on providing representation to various sections of society in proportion to their population in the state. The list includes 14 candidates from the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), 10 from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 11 from the general category, and 14 from the minority community. Prashant Kishor highlighted that 31 of the 65 candidates belong to the Extremely Backward Class (EBC), emphasizing that no other party has given so many tickets to EBC candidates so far.
Several prominent personalities are featured on the second list, including Abhaykant Jha from Bhagalpur, Dr. Shahnawaz Alam from Barharia (Siwan), Neeraj Singh from Sheohar, and Lalababu Yadav from Narkatia. Other key candidates include retired police officer DSP Nasrullah Khan from Nokha (Rohtas), academic Prof Shashikant Prasad from Phulwari (SC), and Dr Shahnawaz from Barharia (Siwan). The list also includes Dr Naval Kishore Chowdhary, a noted economist, who will be contesting from Bathnaha (SC) in Sitamarhi, and Dr Mrityunjay from Cheria Bariarpur in Begusarai. Bablu Soren will represent the reserved ST category from Manihari in Katihar. Minority candidates include Md Ekramul Haque (Thakurganj), Naaz Ahmad Khan alias Pappu Khan (Kesaria), and Aamir Haider (Bahadurpur).
The Jan Suraaj Party is also fielding several women candidates, including Tanuja Kumari from Islampur (Nalanda) and Indu Gupta from Hasanpur (Samastipur). In its first list, the party had already allocated tickets to 17 EBC candidates, 11 OBCs, seven Muslims, one ST, and nine from the general category. The first list included mathematician K C Sinha from Kumhrar (Patna), Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey from Kargahar, and dentist Dr Jagriti Thakur, granddaughter of former chief minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, from Morwa (Samastipur). The initial list also featured a transgender candidate, Priti Kinnar, from Bhorey (an SC reserved seat in Gopalganj), and seven women candidates overall.
In a recent political development, former minister and BJP MLA Ramchandra Sahni resigned from the BJP and joined the Jan Suraaj Party. Prashant Kishor welcomed Sahni, a respected figure in Champaran, into the party. National President Uday Singh stated that each candidate was carefully discussed, and the party hopes the people of Bihar will welcome the list.
The announcement follows the NDA's seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar elections, where the BJP and JDU will contest 101 seats each.
