PK not to take on Tejashwi in Raghopur, Jan Suraaj Party names another candidate

Patna, Oct 15 (PTI) Curtains were virtually down on speculations that Prashant Kishor may contest against Tejashwi Yadav, as the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) on Tuesday declared its candidate from Raghopur, where the RJD leader is aiming at a hat-trick.

JSP national president Uday Singh handed the party symbol to Chanchal Singh for Raghopur, an assembly seat in Vaishali district. A photo of it was shared on social media.

In sharp contrast to the previous two occasions when the party released lists of 51 and 66 candidates at crowded press conferences, the one-off announcement came away from media glare.

There are also speculations that Yadav could this time contest from an additional seat, preferably Phulparas in Madhubani district, which had in 1977 elected Karpoori Thakur, who went on to become the chief minister of Bihar and scripted history by introducing quotas for the backward classes, several years before the Mandal wave.

When Kishor was recently asked about such a possibility, he had remarked, "Tejashwi Yadav will then definitely lose Raghopur, just like his ally Rahul Gandhi, who in 2019 had won Wayanad but conceded defeat in Amethi." The Jan Suraaj Party, which says it will contest all 243 seats of the state assembly, is yet to announce its candidate from Phulparas. PTI NAC SOM