Panel finalised, central discussions underway: BJP's Dilip Jaiswal on candidate selection for Bihar polls 2025

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) As the Bihar Assembly election process picks up pace, BJP Bihar State President Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday confirmed that the party’s state election committee has finalised its panel of candidates after three days of back-to-back deliberations in Patna.

The focus now shifts to the national leadership, with the central core group taking up discussions in Delhi to finalise the BJP’s first list of candidates.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar held three consecutive days of election committee meetings in Patna. The committee prepared prioritised panels for our sitting seats and for constituencies we lost in 2020. The Bihar election committee finalised the panel today; discussions on it will continue in Delhi throughout the day, and the central election list will be finalised thereafter,” Jaiswal said.

Top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, and key Bihar leaders are schedule to meet at Nadda’s residence in Delhi for a crucial core group meeting. The agenda will focus on evaluating the panel of names submitted by the Bihar unit and strategising seat-by-seat for the upcoming polls.

This high-level meeting follows the near-finalisation of the NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar. An official announcement is expected in Patna on Saturday. Party insiders indicate that the first list of candidates is likely to be announced by October 13 and could feature a joint NDA slate, signaling strong alliance coordination.

Meanwhile, NDA allies including Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president Jitan Ram Manjhi have expressed satisfaction over the ongoing negotiations. Paswan, who initially demanded 40 seats, signaled a breakthrough, saying, “I have nothing to worry when my Prime Minister is there.” HAM, which contested 7 seats and won 4 in 2020, is seeking 15 this time, though a compromise is expected following top-level interventions.

With election dates set for November 6 and 11, and results to be declared on November 14, the BJP and its NDA partners are accelerating candidate selection and ground-level preparations.

--IANS

rs/rad