Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) (JDU) has announced its list of candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, revealing a significant shift in the representation of Muslim candidates. While the party fielded 10 Muslim candidates in the 2020 elections, the 2025 list includes only four. This reduction has sparked considerable debate and raised questions about the party's strategy and its relationship with Muslim voters.

The JDU released its candidate lists in two phases, naming a total of 101 candidates, the same number as its ally, the BJP. The first list of 57 candidates, released earlier this week, did not include any Muslim nominees, drawing immediate attention and criticism. Party sources indicated that more lists were expected, leaving room for the inclusion of Muslim candidates in subsequent phases. Ultimately, the final list featured only four Muslim candidates.

In the 2020 elections, the JDU had fielded 11 Muslim candidates out of 115, but none of them won. This previous lack of success may be a factor in the party's decision to reduce the number of Muslim candidates in 2025. Some political observers have pointed to remarks made by NDA leaders after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as indicative of a potentially strained relationship between Nitish Kumar and the Muslim electorate. Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh had stated that minority communities did not vote for Nitish Kumar, yet the Chief Minister continued to work for them.

The JDU's candidate selection also reflects a broader focus on caste equations within Bihar's political landscape. The party has emphasized representation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) in its candidate lists. The JDU has nominated a significant number of candidates from the Kurmi and Kushwaha communities, as well as candidates from the EBCs. The emphasis on Kushwahas is seen as a strategy to counter the Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) efforts to expand beyond its traditional Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) voter base.

The Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14. The NDA has finalized its seat-sharing arrangement, with the JDU and BJP contesting 101 seats each, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 29 seats, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) six seats each. The reduction in Muslim candidates by the JDU is likely to remain a key point of discussion as the election campaign progresses.