New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Congress party has released its fourth list of six nominees for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, taking the total number of candidates announced so far to 60.

The latest list, released late on Sunday, includes three Muslim candidates.

The Congress had earlier released its first list on October 16, naming 48 candidates, followed by a second list with one name and a third list with five.

In the fourth list, the party has fielded Surendra Prasad Kushwaha from Valmiki Nagar, Abidur Rahman from Araria, Jalil Mastan from Amour, Tauqeer Alam from Barari, Praveen Singh Kushwaha from Kahalgaon, and Vinod Chaudhary from the Sikandra Assembly seat.

Reportedly, there was no consensus between the Congress party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over the Kahalgaon seat. Still, the Congress went ahead and announced its candidate from the constituency, effectively staking its claim.

Even though nominations for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections closed on October 17, there has been no official announcement yet on seat-sharing among the Mahagathbandhan partners. Nomination filing for the second phase is also ending on Monday.

Meanwhile, apart from Congress, other alliance partners, including the RJD and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), are yet to release their lists. Several leaders, including the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, have already filed their nominations.

The alliance partners continued distributing tickets until the last day of nominations for the first phase, leading to both Congress and RJD fielding candidates against each other in at least seven constituencies.

However, leaders from both parties have downplayed the matter, terming them “friendly fights”.

Due to a lack of seat-sharing arrangements within the Grand Alliance and competing claims on each other’s constituencies, communication between Congress and RJD leaders has come to a halt. Meanwhile, the RJD has been actively distributing symbols to its candidates.

Overlooking its allies, the RJD has fielded candidates in a dozen seats, including the Kutumba seat, which state Congress President Rajesh Ram currently holds. This situation raises the possibility of a direct contest solely between the RJD and the Congress.

–IANS

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