JD(U) not to field candidates in bypolls to 3 seats in Bihar

Speed Post News Network

Patna : The JD(U), one of the constituents of NDA, will not field its candidates in the bypolls to Araria Lok Sabha and Jehanabad and Bhabhua assembly seats scheduled for March 11, 2018.

The BJP, which had finished second in Araria parliamentary constituency in 2014 General Elections, will contest the Araria Lok Sabha seat. The seat had fallen vacant following the death of sitting RJD MP and former Union Minister Mohammad Taslimuddin. The RJD is likely to field Sarfraz Alam, a former Minister and son of Taslimuddin, from Araria. Sarfraz, a JD(U) MLA from Jokihat in Araria district, resigned his assembly seat on February 10, 2018.

The BJP will also contest the Bhabhua Assembly which had fallen vacant following the death of sitting BJP MLA Anand Bhushan Pandey. The BJP is also likely to field its candidate from Jehanabad Assembly constituency. The bypoll to Jehanabad Assembly seat was necessitated by the death of sitting RJD MLA  and former Minister Mundrika Singh Yadav.

The bypolls to the three seats will test the popularity of the BJP in Bihar before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.