Bihar Election 2025 Highlights: Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party candidate joins BJP day before first phase polls

A day before the first phase of assembly elections, Sanjay Singh, the Jan Suraaj Party candidate from Bihar's Munger Assembly seat, joined the BJP.

Singh extended his support to NDA nominee Kumar Pranay, the BJP candidate from the seat.

"Bihar has witnessed tremendous growth under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. I am confident that the state will continue to develop further under the NDA rule," Singh told reporters after joining the saffron party.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Wednesday alleged that the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD omitted images of party founder Lalu Prasad from posters and banners to "obfuscate the memories of jungle raj."

Addressing a youth congregation in poll-bound Bihar's Rajnagar assembly segment, Thakur said, "Tejashwi Yadav should not misconceive that people will forget the excesses of the corrupt 'jungle raj' if he removes the image of Lalu Prasad from banners and posters."

He accused the Congress and RJD of trying to revive the "jungle raj" in Bihar, allegedly bringing back "kidnapping, illegal arms factories and an army of contract killers."

BJP national president JP Nadda on Wednesday said the "NDA stands for HIRA" and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the state’s rapid development.

Addressing public rallies in Bettiah and Motihari, Nadda said, "NDA stands for HIRA… H for Highway, I for Internet, R for Railway, and A for Airport. All these developments have taken place in Bihar and will continue."

He asserted that the election was not merely about winning seats but about providing stability and advancing Bihar’s growth.

Taking on the BJP-led NDA’s “dynasty politics” barb, Congress leader Priyanka Vadra said on Wednesday that the party’s critics overlook the sacrifices of its ancestors.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: A total of 121 seats will be up for voting in the first phase. The second phase of the Bihar election will take place on 11 November, with voting in the remaining 122 seats. The results will be declared on 14 November.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: RJD candidate from Khajauli constituency Brijkishor Yadav says, "It is an election, but the way the local MLA has neglected the common people, that neglect has now turned into public outrage, and that is now going to be converted into votes. That’s why we don’t see this as a challenge from anyone. There are not just a few issues, it’s an entire mountain of them. This will be the first urban area in all of Bihar where there is a sub-divisional hospital but no X-ray machine, no gynecologist for cesarean deliveries, no ultrasound facility."

Voting in Khajauli will take place on 11 November 2025 under Phase 2.

PTI

Bihar Election 2025 Live: An FIR was registered against Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' on Tuesday for making a controversial statement against opposition leaders during campaigning for arrested JD(U) candidate Anant Singh in Bihar's Mokama, the Patna district administration said.

The minister landed in a fresh controversy with the surfacing of a video in which he purportedly asked NDA supporters to intimidate the opponents on polling day.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also campaign in Bihar today, as the first phase of voting is scheduled for Thursday.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: The prominent seats that will go to the polls in the first phase are Tejashwi Yadav's Raghopur, Mahua, from where his brother Tej Pratap Yadav is trying his luck with a new political outfit, and Tarapur, from where Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is fighting the elections.

The other seats in focus in this phase are Alinagar, from where singer Maithili Thakur is fighting the elections on a BJP ticket, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha's Lakhisarai, Mokama -- where the JD(U) candidate is strongman Anant Singh, who has been arrested in the murder case of his opponent Dular Chand Yadav, and Raghunathpur, where the RJD candidate is late gangster-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin's son Osama Shahab.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: BJP President JP Nadda is scheduled to address meetings in the East and West Champaran districts today. Assembly seats in these areas will vote in the second phase on 11 November.

Bihar Election 2025 Live: The high-voltage campaign for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, covering 121 constituencies, ended on Tuesday evening, after weeks of acrimonious exchanges, personal attacks, and divisive rhetoric.