34 out of 40 MPs in Bihar seek re-election

Patna, March 21: Around 90 per cent of the sitting MPs from Bihar have filed nomination for re-election, mostly from seats which they had represented last time.

As per the list of candidates, released by various political parties, 34 MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha from the state have been given tickets. After their split from the BJP, the JD(U) has given tickets to 12 of its sitting MPs, out of the 20 in the 15th Lok Sabha, from the same seats they held last time.

Five JD(U) Lok Sabha MPs, Vishwamohan Kumar (Supaul), Jai Narayan Nishad (Muzaffarpur), Purnmasi Ram (Gopalganj -SC), Monazir Hasan (Begusarai), Bhudev Chaudhary (Jamui -SC)), however, were denied tickets. Another JD(U) leader — Jagdish Sharma (Jehanabad), had to suffer ignominy for being disqualified as the member of 15th Lok Sabha after he was convicted in the fodder scam and thus was not eligible for consideration for ticket to contest the polls.

The BJP, meanwhile, rewarded all its 12 sitting MPs with tickets for the general elections. It has also roped in the sitting independent MP from Siwan Om Prakash Yadav and given him the ticket to contest from the same seat on its symbol.

The RJD, which had four seats in the 15th Lok Sabha, has asked its three sitting MPs to contest again from the same place they held. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi will contest from the Saran Lok Sabha seat in place of her husband, who was disqualified as the MP after his conviction in fodder scam.

The Congress has also followed the same trend and rewarded tickets to two of its sitting MPs, Meira Kumar and Md Asrarul Haque from Sasaram (SC) and Kishanganj Lok Sabha seats respectively.

PTI