Patna, Oct 29 (IANS): The Bihar State Election Commission has cancelled the nominations of four candidates --three from Belaganj and one from Imamganj -- after reviewing their nomination papers. All four individuals had submitted their nomination to contest the by-elections, scheduled to be held on November 13 in the state's four Assembly constituencies.
As a result of the cancellation of nominations, the number of candidates for both Assembly seats -- Belaganj and Imamganj -- has been reduced.
In Belaganj, 17 nominations were initially filed, but after the scrutiny, only 14 candidates remain eligible.
Jitendra Yadav from the People's Party of India, while Surendra Yadav and Shambhu Kumar -- the Independent candidates -- are out of the contest now.
The final date to withdraw nominations is October 30.
The prime contest in Belaganj seems to be between Vishwanath Kumar Singh of RJD; JD-U's NDA-backed Manorama Devi; Mohd. Amjad of Jan Suraaj Party, and Mohammad Javed Ali of AIMIM.
In Imamganj, out of the initial 10 candidates, the nomination of Seema Kumari from Rashtriya Janata Morcha was cancelled, leaving 9 candidates in the fray.
In the upcoming by-elections in Bihar, the key candidates in the Imamganj Assembly constituency include Roshan Manjhi of the RJD; Jitendra Paswan of the Jan Suraaj Party, and Deepa Manjhi of HAMS.
The nomination for the Belaganj and Imamganj Assembly seats took place between October 18 and October 25, with scrutiny on October 28.
Voting is scheduled for November 13, and results will be announced on November 23.
The Belaganj seat fell vacant as Surendra Prasad Yadav was elected as MP from the Jehanabad constituency, while a by-election was neccessitated in Imamganj after Jitan Ram Manjhi was elected as an MP from the Gaya constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Apart from Belaganj and Imamganj, Ramgarh and Tarari are the other Assembly constituencies where the by-poll will be held on November 13.
Political analysts believe that the elections in these constituencies are set to be quite competitive, with a likely triangular contest involving the Grand Alliance, NDA, and the Jan Suraaj Party.