With the last date for withdrawal of nominations over for the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections 2025, all candidates’ names are now finalized. In a notable development, the INDIA Alliance's parties are contesting against each other on 12 seats, creating so-called “friendly fights.” Initially, a total of 15 seats had candidates from India Alliance parties running against each other. Speculation had suggested that the seat-sharing details might be revealed during a Mahagathbandhan press conference on Thursday, but no announcement was made.
On Thursday evening, two candidates from the India Alliance withdrew their nominations. This led to expectations that other candidates might also step down. However, no further withdrawals took place, leaving 12 seats with intra-alliance contests.
Seats with India Alliance 'friendly fights'
| Assembly Seat | IND Candidate 1 | IND Candidate 2 | NDA Candidate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kahalgawan | Rajneesh Kumar (RJD) | Praveen Kushwaha (Congress) | Shubhanand Mukesh (JDU) |
| Gaurabauram | Santosh Sahni (VIP) | Afzal Ali Khan (RJD) | Sujit Kumar (BJP) |
| Biharsharif | Shiv Kumar Yadav (CPI) | Umair Khan (Congress) | Dr. Sunil (BJP) |
| Rajpakar | Mohit Paswan (CPI) | Pratima Kumari (Congress) | Mahendra Ram (JDU) |
| Vaishali | Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Congress) | Ajay Kushwaha (RJD) | Siddharth Patel (JDU) |
| Narkatiaganj | Deepak Yadav (RJD) | Saswat Kedar (Congress) | Sanjay Kumar Pandey |
| Chainpur | Govind Bind (VIP) | Brijkishore Bind (RJD) | Mohammad Jama Khan (JDU) |
| Beldour | Tanisha Bharti (IIP) | Mithilesh Kumar Nishad (Congress) | Panna Lal Singh Patel (JDU) |
| Kargahar | Mahendra Gupta (CPI) | Santosh Mishra (Congress) | Vashishth Singh (JDU) |
| Sikandra | Uday Narayan Chaudhary (RJD) | Vinod Kumar Chaudhary (Congress) | Praful Kumar Manjhi (HAM) |
| Sultanganj | Chandan Kumar (RJD) | Lalan Kumar (Congress) | Lalit Narayan Mandal (JDU) |
| Bachhwara | Avdhesh Kumar Rai (CPI) | Shiv Prakash Garib Das (Congress) | Surendra Mohta (BJP) |
Withdrawn nominations
Some candidates have withdrawn from the contest, simplifying certain races:
- Babuberhi: VIP candidate Bindu Gulab Yadav withdrew. Now the contest is between RJD’s Arun Kumar Singh (India Alliance) and Meena Kumari (JDU).
- Warisnagar: Congress candidate Satish Kumar withdrew. The fight is now between RJD’s Anita and BJP’s Aruna Devi.
- Pranpur: Congress candidate Tauqeer Alam withdrew. RJD’s Ishrat Praveen now represents the India Alliance.
With intra-alliance contests on 12 seats and withdrawals altering a few more, the second phase of Bihar elections promises to be highly competitive, with both NDA and India Alliance fighting to consolidate their positions across the state.
