Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which has the highest number of seats in the ruling Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, will field candidates for by-elections in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly seats, sources said on Tuesday. The other parts of the Grand Alliance will support the RJD candidates.
Former chief minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Majhi, whose political outfit Hindustani Awam Morcha is a partner of the seven-party Grand Alliance, made the announcement at a press conference at the state RJD headquarters. The leaders of the other partners of the Grand Alliance, the Janata Dal (United), the Congress, the CPI (ML), CPI (M) and the CPI, were also present at the press conference. They said that the Grand Alliance would trounce the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the by-elections.
Manjhi also announced the names of the candidates for seats. The BJP announced the names of its candidates for both the seats a few days ago. The RJD candidate for Mokama will be Neelam Devi, wife of four-term legislator Anant Kumar Singh whose disqualification, because of recovery of arms and explosives from his residence, necessitated the by-poll. The RJD candidate in Gopalganj will be Mohan Prakash Gupta.
