New Delhi:
JD(U) today announced its first list of 15 candidates for Bihar and four other states fielding a former bureaucrat K P Ramaiah from Sasaram against Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Sasaram is a reserved seat from where BJP has fielded Sanjay Paswan. With Ramaih, a former IAS officer having served in the state in various capacities joining the fray, the contest in Sasaram has become triangular.
Bihar Speaker Udai Narayan Chowdhary has been fielded from the reserved seat of Jamui, where LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag Paswan is contesting. Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar is the RJD candidate in New Delhi.
While LJP has alliance with BJP, RJD is in alliance with Congress in Bihar.
The party fielded its Jharkhand unit chief Jaleshwar Hahato from Giridh and Mahesh Yadav from Chatra in Jharkhand.
It also declared candidates for four seats in Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The ruling party in Bihar, which is contesting on 38 of the 40 Parliamentary seats in the state, has decided to leave Begusarai for alliance partner CPI, which has been given two seats including Banka.
Among six Lok Saba seats of Bihar for which the party has declared candidates, sitting MP Mabhali Singh has been re-nominated from Karakat Lok Sabha seat.
Mr Singh is the only sitting MP among the candidates declared so far.
The party declared the candidature of Baagi Kumar Verma from Aurangabad, where its sitting MP Sushil Kumar is now contesting on BJP ticket while Congress has fielded former MP Nikhil Kumar, who had quit as Kerala Governor recently to fight the Lok Sabha polls.
Kaushal Yadav has been fielded from Nawada. Sasaram, Karakat, Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui constituencies will go for polls on April 10.
Announcing the decisions, party President Sharad Yadav also gave clear indications that he will stick to his seat Madhepura.
There was earlier a talk that the state unit of the party wanted Mr Yadav to contest from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's strong hold Nalanda as there is a view that the going could be tough for the JD(U) chief this time in Madhepura since RJD has fielded Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan from there.
While Sharad Yadav had won the seat in 2009, Pappu Yadav had thrice won the Lok Sabha polls from Purnia - 1991, 1996 and 1999 - and once from Madhepura in 2004.
Mr Yadav, however, said that there was no confusion on his seat and his name will be declared for it when the second list is out.
In Gujarat, Jadav Ambalala Kanabhai is candidate from Baroda, Vasav A Prafullbhai from Chhota Udaypur (reserved), Vasava Jagat Singh from Bardoli, Vasava Kioshore Bhati Chhotu Bhai from Soorat and Shailesh Ji Patel from Valsad in Gujarat.
Narain Maida is party candidate from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and Bhanji bhai from Banswada in Rajasthan.