Patna: In a melodic twist to Bihar’s high-octane election drama, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its second list of 12 candidates, spotlighting celebrated folk singer Maithili Thakur as the hopeful from Alinagar. The announcement, made on Wednesday, catapults the 25-year-old artist into the political spotlight just a day after she donned saffron colours in the presence of Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal.
Thakur, known for her soul-stirring renditions of Maithili folk tunes, expressed her commitment to societal service and Bihar’s growth, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Her entry aims to resonate with the youth in Darbhanga district’s Mithilanchal belt, blending cultural appeal with electoral strategy.
The list also features former IPS officer Anand Mishra from Buxar, Ram Chandra Prasad from Hayaghat, Ranjan Kumar from Muzaffarpur, Subhash Singh from Gopalganj, Kedarnath Singh from Baniapur, Chhoti Kumari from Chapra, Vinay Kumar Singh from Sonepur, Birendra Kumar from Rosera (SC), Siyaram Singh from Barh, Mahesh Paswan from Agiaon (SC), and Rakesh Ojha from Shahpur.
With this, BJP has now declared 83 contenders out of its 101-seat share in the NDA alliance, following an initial roster of 71.
Alinagar, a general seat carved out in the 2008 delimitation, boasts a riveting poll history. In 2020, VIP’s Mishri Lal Yadav edged out RJD’s Vinod Mishra by a slender 3,101 votes (61,082 to 57,981). The seat had twice favoured RJD in 2010 and 2015, with Abdul Bari Siddiqui securing back-to-back wins. As Bihar’s 243 seats go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, Thakur’s candidacy promises a symphony of tradition and transformation.