Bihar by-polls: Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj fields doctor and academician for two seats

Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj on Saturday (October 19) nominated a doctor and an academician as candidates for the Imamganj and Belaganj assembly constituencies in Bihar, where by-polls are set for November 13.

The Jan Suraaj's nominee for Imamganj, a reserved constituency, is Jitendra Paswan, a paediatrician known for social activism, while the party fielded academician Khilafat Hussain from the Belaganj assembly seat.

Announcement made

The announcement was made at a press conference attended by Kishor and several other party leaders in Gaya as both the assembly segments are situated in the district.

By-polls were necessitated in the two constituencies after MLAs of both seats - Jitan Ram Manjhi from Imamganj and Surendra Prasad Yadav from Belaganj - were elected to the Lok Sabha.

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The candidature of Hussain had met with some resistance as supporters of another aspirant had created a ruckus at the meeting of Jan Suraaj on Friday night in Gaya, party sources said.

By-polls to two more assembly seats - Ramgarh and Tarari - will also be held on November 13 and the counting will take place on November 23.

On October 16, the party named former vice chief of army staff Lieutenant General Krishna Singh as its candidate for by-poll to Tarari assembly seat.

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Singh had said that he was "not happy" with the Agniveer scheme which, incidentally, had met with strong opposition when it was rolled out a couple of years ago.

(With agency inputs)