The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday releases its first list of candidates for the 2026 Bihar Legislative Council biennial elections. The party has named Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, Dr Sanjay Mayukh, Anil Kumar Thakur, and Sheela Pandit as its candidates for the upcoming polls. Mayukh is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council for the last two terms, while Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh is one of the four candidates announced by the party's central election committee for the election.
Bihar MLC elections: Check first list of candidates
Anil Kumar Thakur and Sheela Pandit are the other two BJP candidates to be joining the fray, according to the list released by party national general secretary Arun Singh. Elections for nine seats in the Bihar Legislative Council are scheduled to be held on June 18.
Bihar MLC elections: JD-U announces three candidates
Earlier in the day, the Janata Dal (United) also announced its candidates for the 2026 Bihar Legislative Council biennial elections and a bypoll. The party released the official list of nominees through a notification signed by Bihar JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha. With
the announcement, the Nitish Kumar-led party has formally kicked off its preparations for the Legislative Council elections, while also signalling its focus on social representation and organisational strength.
Nishant Kumar nominated from Patna district
For the biennial elections to the Bihar Legislative Council, JD(U) has fielded three candidates from different regions of the state. Nishant Kumar has been nominated from Patna district, while Bharati Mehta has been selected as the party's candidate from Madhubani. Shivani Devi Prajapati from West Champaran has been named as the third candidate for the biennial polls.
Political observers believe the selections reflect the party's effort to strike a balance between regional representation and social inclusivity. Last month, on May 7, Nishant Kumar took oath as a minister in Bihar's Cabinet. Later, he was entrusted with the responsibility of the Health Department.
Bihar BJP announces new team of state office-bearers
In a major development, the Bihar BJP last month announced a new team of state office-bearers, along with heads of its various organisational fronts (morchas). State BJP president Sanjay Saraogi announced the new team following instructions from the party's national chief Nitin Nabin.The list includes 14 state vice-presidents, five state general secretaries, 14 pradesh mantris, one state treasurer, two co-treasurers, one state headquarters in-charge and one office minister.
Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, Rakesh Kumar, Santosh Pathak, Manoj Kumar Singh, Annamika Paswan, Rama Singh, Pawan Jaiswal, Pranav Kumar Yadav, Santosh Ranjan Rai, Nand Prasad Chauhan, Anil Thakur, Mukesh Sharma, Sheela Kushwaha and Balram Mandal have been appointed state vice-presidents.
Saroj Ranjan Patel, Dhanraj Sharma, Preeti Shekhar, Nitin Abhishek and Rajor Jha (Raju Jha) have been made state general secretaries. Further, 14 leaders have been given the responsibility of pradesh mantris.
Vikram Narayan Singh has been appointed state treasurer, while Rajesh Sinha and Ankur Gupta have been appointed co-treasurers. Akshay Kumar has been appointed the state headquarters in-charge, and Vinay Kesari has been assigned the responsibility of the office minister. The party also announced the names of the presidents of various fronts (morchas).
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