Patna, Oct 30 (PTI) Altogether 38 candidates were on Wednesday left in the fray for Tarari, Ramgarh, Belaganj and Imamganj assembly seats of Bihar where by-polls are scheduled next month.
According to a statement from the Election Commission, a total of 50 candidates, including nine women, had filed their nomination papers till October 25, but six of those were rejected during scrutiny and an equal number of persons withdrew from the contest.
Of the four constituencies, Belaganj has the highest number of 14 candidates, including RJD's Vishwanath Kumar Singh, son of Surendra Prasad Yadav whose election to the Lok Sabha from Jehanabad has necessitated the by-election.
His main rival is Manorama Devi of JD(U), a former MLC while Jan Suraaj's Mohd Amjad and AIMIM's Mohd Zamin Ali Hasan are expected to queer the pitch for the two primary contenders.
The lowest number of five candidates are in the fray for Ramgarh where RJD's Ajit Kumar Singh, the son of state party chief Jagadanand Singh, hopes to retain the seat that fell vacant upon the election of brother Sudhakar to the Lok Sabha from Buxar.
The BJP has reposed its trust in Ashok Kumar Singh who had won the seat in 2015 but was humiliated five years later when he finished third. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's BSP, which was the runner-up in 2020, has given ticket to Satish Kumar Singh Yadav while Sushil Kumar Singh is the candidate of Jan Suraaj, launched by former political strategist Prashant Kishor earlier this month.
In the reserved Imamganj seat, Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha founder Jitan Ram Manjhi has fielded Deepa, married to his son and state minister Santosh Suman.
The NDA's bid to retain the seat, falling vacant upon Manjhi's election from the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, faces the main challenge from RJD's Raushan Manjhi, a former member of Zila Parishad.
However, the presence of Kanchan Paswan (AIMIM) and Jitendra Paswan (Jan Suraaj) has ensured a multi-cornered contest in the seat.
In Tarari, the CPI(ML)'s Raju Yadav hopes to retain the seat for his party which had won two times on the trot by Sudama Prasad, the current MP from Arrah.
Yadav's main challenger is BJP debutant Vishal Prashant, son of former several-term MLA Sunil Pandey who was the runner up in 2020 while contesting as an Independent.
The Jan Suraaj, which had announced its foray into electoral politics recently by naming former Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen Shri Krishna Singh, who had to pull out because of technical reasons, has fielded local social activist Kiran Singh.
Interestingly, to complicate matters for the CPI(ML) candidate, an Independent named Raju Yadav has also entered the fray.
Besides, Lalu Prasad Yadav, a namesake of the RJD supremo, who has unsuccessfully fought many parliamentary, assembly and even Presidential polls to earn the epithet "dharti pakad", has thrown his hat in the ring for Tarari, falling in Bhojpur district, which is about 50 kms from his native district Saran.