Patna, April 9 (IANS): Fifty candidates are in the fray in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar where polling will take place in the second phase, an election commission official said on Tuesday.
Polling in the second phase will take place in the Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj, Bhagalpur and Banka Lok Sabha constituencies on April 26. Among the 50 candidates, 18 are Independents.
Twelve candidates each are contesting in Bhagalpur and Kishanganj while 7 candidates are in the fray in Purnea Lok Sabha constituency.
In Purnea, 11 candidates filed nominations while the election commission cancelled the nominations of four candidates during scrutiny of their papers and affidavits.
With this, Santosh Kumar Kushwaha of the JD-U, Bima Bharti of the RJD, Kishore Kumar Yadav of the All India Forward Bloc, Arun Kumar Das of the BSP, Independent candidates Satyendra Yadav, Pappu Yadav and Nauman Alam are in the fray in Purnea.
The contest for the Purnea seat is turning out to be between Santosh Kushwaha, Bima Bharti and Pappu Yadav. The entry of Pappu Yadav has made the contest interesting and he may cut into the votes of the RJD.
In Bhagalpur, 21 candidates had filed nominations burt only 12 candidates are left in the fray. The other 9 candidates have either withdrawn or the election commission has cancelled their nominations following scrutiny of their papers.
Ajay Kumar Mandal of the JD-U, Ajeet Sharma of the Congress, Poonam Singh of the BSP, Umesh Kumar Yadav of the Peoples Party of India (Democratic), Dayaram Mandal of the Lok Sewa Dal, Dipak Kumar of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), Dipak Kumar Singh of the Rashtriya Jansambhavana Party, Mukesh Kumar of the Akhil Bhartiya Parivar Party, along with Independent candidates Om Prakash Poddar, Hareram Yadav, Chotelal Kumar and Ramesh Tuddu are in the fray.
Bhagalpur will witness a tough contest between Ajay Kumar Mandal and Ajeet Sharma.
In Kishanganj, 15 candidates had filed nominations while three candidates have withdrawn their names. Now, 12 candidates are in the fray in the Muslim-dominant Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency.
Mujahid Alam is running as a candidate of the JD-U, while Dr Javed Azad is contesting on the Congress ticket. The participation of Akhtarul Inam, the state president and sole MLA of the AIMIM, has turned it into a triangular contest.
Besides them, Alam Babu (BSP), Saiful Alam (Rashtriya Samaj Party) and 7 Independent candidates including Chotelal Mahto, Mohammad Kaushar Parvez, Mohammad Gurfan Jamali, Mohammad Haserul, Vishwanath Tuddu, Videshi Rishidev and Ravi Kumar Rai are contesting from Kishanganj.
In Banka, 19 candidates have filed their nominations and the election commission has cancelled the candidatures of 9 candidates after scrutiny of their nomination forms and affidavits. The main contest will be between sitting MP Giridhari Yadav of the JD-U and the RJD's Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, who is considered a close aide of former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Besides them, Amrit Tanti of the Bhartiya Dalit Party, Uttam Kumar Singh of the Aam Janata Party Rashtriya, Kavindra Pandit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), Ganesh Kumar Kushwaha of the Samata Party, Jayprakash Yadav of the Rashtriya Jan Sambhavna Party and three Independent candidates Umakant Yadav, Naresh Yadav and Naresh Kumar Priyadarshi are contesting from in Banka.
In Katihar, 10 candidates had filed their nominations and one of them withdrew his name. Now, 9 candidates are contesting in the Katihar Lok Sabha constituency. The main contest will take place between Dulal Chandra Goswami of the JD-U and Congress candidate Tariq Anwar.
In addition to this, Gopal Kumar Mehta of the BSP, Vishnu Singh of the Bhartiya Jago Janata Party, Marang Hansda of the Peoples Party of India Democratic, Raj Kumar Mandal of the Rashtriya Jan Sambhawna Party, Bindu Kumari of the Samaj Shakti Party, and Independent candidates Gyaneshwar Surya and Khalid Mubarak are also contesting.