On the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers on Saturday, election officials confirmed that 17 candidates would be contesting in the by-election to Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seats in Bihar.
The BJP is looking to retain both seats that have become vacant after the death of their MLAs.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has fielded candidates for Tarapur as well as Kusheshwar Asthan seats. They are being challenged by RJD's Arun Kumar and Rajesh Mishra of the Congress. Aman Bhushan Hazari, son of three-time MLA Shashi Bhushan Hazari, will be contesting in Kusheshwar Asthan. The party had won both seats in 2020, reported NDTV.
Left parties – CPI, CPI(M), and CPI(ML) – which had contested as part of the five-party Grand Alliance headed by RJD, announced support to Lalu Prasad's party. However, his son Tej Pratap Yadav was omitted from the party's list of star campaigners.
Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is also contesting to prove a point. He is representing the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency for a second time, and Tarapur comes under it.
Kushewshar Asthan will be a challenging arena for LJP. He will have to try to garner the sympathy of Dalits following the alleged "betrayal" by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who split the party founded by his legendary father, reported NDTV.
Voting will take place on October 30.