Triangular Contest in Bihar Bypolls Following Prashant Kishor’s Entry

Political activities have been galore in the state ever since the news of four assembly constituencies in Bihar, namely Belaganj, Imamganj, Tarari, and Ramgarh, going for by-election came.

In contrast to previous bye-elections, this one appears to be more competitive with the advent of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, which will make it a triangular contest along with the traditional competition between National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Grand Alliance, or Mahagathbandhan. It will also be quite interesting whether Prashant Kishor becomes the main challenger or finally cuts into the vote percentage of NDA or that of the Grand Alliance candidates.

According to the Election Commission's schedule, polling is scheduled on November 13, while vote counting will be done on November 23.

Political parties have geared up to go all-out with their preparations. They have begun holding meetings and discussions over candidate selection. For example, the BJP called a high-level meeting in Delhi in order to strategize and prepare for the bypolls. The works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar's achievements are going to form the pillar of BJP's campaign for the election on the foundations of good governance and employment.

The Bihar spokesperson of BJP, Arvind Kumar Singh, said, "Our workers remain busy throughout the year in election work. We will enter into the by-elections with confidence on developmental work done and employment generation efforts under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar.".

With the addition of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, it would be a great battle in the bypolls for a close contest, which would give a sneak peek into the state's political climate ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. Political parties from both the alliances are actually now tiding up their strategies to vote for victory in these much-important by-elections.

The much-awaited by-elections in Bihar have heightened political fervor, especially over the four assembly constituencies. A heady mix of parties contesting like RJD, BJP, JDU, CPI(ML), and Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj is going to make this contest quite cutthroat.

RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari said on Monday that they are confident "The Grand Alliance would contest all the four seats based on the leadership provided by Tejashwi Yadav. The RJD is planning to defeat the NDA with a victory mantra of the popularity of Tejashwi's work and leadership.".

The four constituencies are being brought into the political spotlight, with special attention to the Ramgarh assembly seat. The findings in this respect confirm that RJD has planned to field the junior son of the party's state president Jagadanand Singh, and the BJP may get Ashok Singh as the nominee for Ramgarh. Jan Suraaj led by Prashant Kishor is also likely to enter the fray with Anand Singh as the possible candidate for Ramgarh.

In the Tarari seat, good contenders are emerging to fill in the vacancy in CPI(ML), following Sudama Prasad. CPI(ML) is likely to nominate Raju Yadav. To BJP's credit, according to reports, it is set to hand over the post to the son of Sunil Pandey, considering the latter and his family were recently inducted into BJP. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor is said to be getting ready to nominate Anand Mishra, who has been ardently touring the constituency.

Belaganj and Imamganj are also taking political strategies from the both alliances, whereas party meetings are under way to finalize candidates there.

Nikhil Anand, national general secretary BJP's OBC wing, said, "The NDA is at the discussion stage with names of candidates and will try to finalize the whole list in coming days that which name will it place on which seat".

By-elections to the Imamganj and Belaganj seats in Bihar are set to become highly competitive where politics is slated to play a considerable game between all parties.

The Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular fortress of the Imamganj seat has become vacant after Jitan Ram Manjhi was elected as an MP. Manjhi has been here for a long time; his party is likely to field Deepa Manjhi, wife of Bihar government minister Santosh Kumar Suman, to ensure that the influence of the party continues unhampered.

The RJD is also not too far behind in their ambition for the seat, where potential candidates such as Kshamta Devi, daughter of Bhagwati Devi have been considered, which would give RJD much political weight at Imamganj.

RJD sees Belaganj as a crucial constituency because the seat was vacated by Surendra Prasad Yadav after his election to Lok Sabha. JD(U) wants to take an advantage of this vacancy. Baidyanath Yadav, son of Surendra Prasad Yadav, is likely to emerge as the RJD candidate while former MP Arun Kumar is leaving no stone unturned to secure the ticket of JD(U).

Jan Suraaj's leader, Prashant Kishor, is branding his party as a strong third force to break the stranglehold of NDA and the Grand Alliance on Indian polities. Kishor has threatened that he will defeat the two big alliances in these by-elections, making the contest a high-stakes test before his party enters the fray in the 2025 state elections.