Ticket-seekers demonstrate outside RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s residence in Patna on October 10, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Friday (October 10, 2025) authorised party supremo Lalu Prasad to take the final decision on selection of candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Bihar.
The election to the 243-member Assembly will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11.
The decision was taken at the RJD’s State and central parliamentary committee meeting held at 10, Circular Road, the official residence of former Chief Minister Rabri Devi. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Prasad and son Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
The meeting also discussed seat distribution among the INDIA bloc allies.
After the meeting, RJD leader and chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said: “Lalu Prasadji will take the final decision on the distribution of tickets.”
All the members of the State and parliamentary committees were present at the meeting. They included secretary-general Abdul Bari Siddiqui, RJD State unit president Manganilal Mandal, former Assembly speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary, and MLA Bhai Birendra.
“Whatever decision Lalu ji takes, it will be accepted by all RJD leaders in the party,” Mr. Birendra said.
Party sources said that at the meeting, everyone requested Mr. Prasad to ensure that the RJD contested the maximum number of seats. The State and parliamentary committee members also urged Mr. Prasad to ensure that all sections of people are covered in the ticket distribution. Special focus should be given to the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), they said.
The EBCs constitute 36% of the total population. Considered a strong vote bank of Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, the grouping is said to have kept him in power for the last 20 years.
Tejashwi as CM candidate
Addressing the members, Mr. Prasad said that he will look into the suggestions of the members and asked everyone to work hard so that the INDIA bloc can form the government. He said everyone should have only “one aim” – to make Tejashwi Yadav the next Chief Minister of Bihar so that he can serve the people.
“Tejashwi performed well when he got the opportunity for 17 months as the Deputy Chief Minister. He gave five lakh jobs to the people of Bihar in a very short period. You all should stand with him so that he can fulfil the promise of giving one government job to every household,”Mr. Prasad said.
As per party sources, the RJD is set to field candidates from 130 to 140 seats of the 243. The remaining seats will be distributed among the allies. At present, intense bargaining for seats is under way in the INDIA bloc.
Mr. Yadav, who heads the Coordination Committee of the INDIA bloc, is looking at every possible angle to accommodate all the partners, be it the Congress, the Vikashasheel Insaan Party led by Mukesh Sahni, who is demanding at least 30 seats, and the three Left parties – the Communist Party of India(CPI), Communist Party of India(Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation).
Mr. Yadav also needs to accommodate the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which spared six seats for the RJD in the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly election, as well as the Pashupati Kumar Paras-led Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which broke away from the NDA earlier this year.
Published – October 10, 2025 08:38 pm IST