LS polls: RJD to contest on 26, Cong, Left to field on 14 seats in Bihar

In the seat-sharing formula for the Mahagathbandhan allies, RJD gets key constituencies in Madhubani and Hajipur while Congress to contest from Kishanganj and Muzaffarpur

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties in Bihar announced seat allocation for the 40 constituencies going for polls in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. RJD will contest the elections in 26 seats, including Purnea and Hajipur, while Congress will field its candidates in 9 seats, including Kishanganj and Patna Sahib. The Left parties (CPI-ML, CPI, and CPI-M), will contest on five seats.

Here's a list of the parties seat allocations:

RJD- Gaya, Nawada, Jahanabad, Aurangabad, Buxar, Pataliputra, Munger, Jamui, Banka, Valmiki Nagar, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Vaishali, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, Ujiyarpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Madhepura, Purnia, Araria, Hajipur
 

Congress- Kishanganj, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur (SC), West Champaran, Patna Sahib, Sasaram, Maharajganj

CPI (ML)- Aarh, Karakat, Nalanda
 

CPI- Begusarai
 

CPM- Khagaria 

Earlier last week, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had announced its candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, dropping three sitting MPs, including Union Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey. 

The voting for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Bihar will be held in all seven phases between April 19 and June 1. 

Here's a phase-wise poll schedule

Phase 1: April 9

In phase one, voting will be held in Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui.

Phase 2: April 26

Phase two will see five constituencies going for polls, namely Kishanganj Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka.

Phase 3: May 7

Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria will go to polls in the third phase.

Phase 4: May 13

In phase four, Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger constituencies will go for voting.

Phase 5: May 20

In the fifth phase Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur will vote.

Phase 6: May 25

In the penultimate phase, eight constituencies in Bihar—Valmiki Nagar, Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Vaishali, Gopalganj, Siwan, and Maharajganj—will go to polls.

Phase 7: June 1

The final phase of voting will decide the fate of Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat and Jahanabad.

With 40 seats, Bihar sends the fourth-highest number of MPs to the Parliament. In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its allies had swept Bihar, winning 39 of the 40 seats. The Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 's Mahagathbandhan had fared poorly five years ago. Mohammad Jawed, the Congress candidate from Kishanganj, was the sole winner of the alliance.