On August 21, by- elections are being held for 10 seats for the Bihar legislature.
Father and son combos in Bihar have got the thumbs down from the BJP. For important elections next month, the party has decided it will not choose candidates whose fathers are parliamentarians.
On August 21, by- elections are being held for 10 seats for the Bihar legislature. Representatives of four of these constituencies ran for Parliament.
Among those who have moved from the Bihar assembly to Parliament are four BJP leaders. Sources say they were keen that their sons should run for the seats they vacated. Senior leader Nand Kishore Yadav denied those reports, but confirmed that the BJP decided at a meeting earlier this week that no relatives of parliamentarians will be considered for the by-elections.
Since taking office in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly warned his party that nepotism will not be tolerated.
Chedi Paswan is among the BJP leaders who has moved from the state legislature to Parliament. Upset that he would not be allowed to run for his father's former seat, his son, Ravi Paswan, reportedly met with Nitish Kumar, top leader of the Janata Dal United, to explore switching sides. He was allegedly told Mr Kumar's party would not be able to choose him as a candidate because the constituency he sought has been assigned to the Congress, which is contesting the by-elections in a three-way partnership with the Janata Dal United and Lalu Yadav's party.
Sources in the BJP say that Mr Paswan's move did not upset party leaders because he joined the BJP just before the national election after defecting from Janata Dal (United).