The JD(U) today nominated Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and two new faces for the biennial election to the state Legislative Council, hours after the Congress and the BJP announced the names of their candidates.
Tomorrow is the last date for filing nominations for the council polls, scheduled to be held on April 26 for 11 seats to the Upper House.
"Our national president and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and two young leaders - Rameshwar Mahto and Khalid Anwar - have been named candidates for three Legislative Council seats," Bihar JD(U) president Bashistha Narayan Singh told PTI.
The party had constituted a committee of four senior leaders to decide on the names of candidates, who could be sent to the Upper House, Singh said.
Apart from the JD(U) president, the committee had Bihar ministers Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Rajya Sabha member RCP Singh as its members.
Asked about the background of the party's two new faces -- Mahto and Anwar - Singh said both were "dedicated party workers".
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Earlier in the day, the BJP and the Congress had listed their candidates.
The saffron party, an ally of the JD(U), has named Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Health Minister Mangal Pandey and former Union minister Sanjay Paswan as its nominees, while the Congress fielded senior leader Prem Chandra Mishra as its lone candidate.
Mishra, a familiar face on TV news channels, thanked party's president Rahul Gandhi for his nomination.
"I am thankful to Congress president Rahul Gandhi ji for reposing faith in me by declaring my name for council polls," Mishra told PTI.
Four RJD candidates - former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, state president Ramchandra Purbe, senior leaders Khurshid Mohsin and Santosh Manjhi - filed their papers on April 13.
Santosh Manjhi is the son of Hindustani Awam Morcha chief and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, who recently quit the NDA to join the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
If no other candidates, apart from those named by the four parties, file papers by tomorrow, the results for all 11 seats could be declared on April 19, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, said the deputy secretary of Bihar Assembly and assistant returning officer, Bhushan Kumar Jha.
Prominent among those whose terms would end on May 6 include Chief Minister and JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar, former CM Rabri Devi, Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and state health minister Mangal Pandey.