BJP names four candidates for Bihar MLC elections

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) announced the names of its candidates for four of the eight State Legislative Council seats in Bihar, which go to the polls on October 23, 2026. The result of the biennial election will be announced on October 27, 2026.

There are two teachers’ and two graduates’ constituencies in the four seats for which the BJP has announced its candidates. The ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) partner, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) is putting up candidates for the four remaining seats.

The term of the eight incumbent members is due to end on November 16, 2026.

The BJP has announced the names of Nawal Kishore Yadav for the Patna teachers’ constituency, Narendra Prasad Singh for the Tirhut teachers’ constituency, N.K. Yadav for the Kosi graduates’ constituency, and Sarvesh Kumar for the Darbhanga graduates’ constituency.

Mr. Nawal Kishore Yadav has won the election from the Patna teachers’ constituency for five consecutive terms since 1996, and is contesting for a sixth term. “I’ll hit a six this time,” he told media persons on Tuesday.

The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has declared its candidates for six seats, and poll strategist Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) has announced its candidates for all eight seats.

Of the total eight seats, the NDA currently holds three seats, two are with the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance, in the Opposition), and the remaining three are held by Independent candidates.

Earlier, defying the party’s line, the ‘strongman’ JD(U) MLA from Mokama, Anant Singh, said he would not support the party’s candidate, Neeraj Kumar, and would instead throw his weight behind the JSP’s relatively unknown candidate, Anuj Kumar Singh. “Neeraj Kumar has always been working to defeat me in the Assembly election…he always has been working against me,” Mr. Anant Singh said, in a visible instance of factionalism within the JD(U).

“The party’s top leadership will soon resolve the issue between the two leaders,” State JD(U) president Umesh Kushawaha had said in response.

“What is happening should not have happened, and the party’s top leadership is keeping an eye on this development,” the JD(U)’s Nalanda MLA and State Minister for the Rural Works Department Shrawan Kumar, who is considered close to party supremo and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, said on Tuesday (September 29).

The JD(U) had previously announced the names of its candidates for four seats — Neeraj Kumar for the Patna graduates’ constituency, Abhishek Jha for the Tirhut graduates’ constituency, Anand Pushkar for the Saran teachers’ constituency, and Ghanshyam Rai for the Drabhanga teachers’ constituency.