The Janata Dal (United) has not included any Muslim candidates in its first list of 57 nominees for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, announced on Wednesday. Party sources, however, said that more lists are expected in the coming weeks, and Muslim candidates may still be fielded in later phases.
The absence of Muslim names in the first list has already sparked political debate and drawn criticism from opposition parties. In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, JD(U) had fielded 11 Muslim candidates out of 115, but none were elected. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party had fielded Mujahid Alam from Kishanganj, who lost to the Congress candidate.
Former Samajwadi Party MLA Jama Khan, who later joined JD(U) and served in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet, also did not make it to this list. Political observers suggest that the exclusion may reflect a strategic focus on JD(U)’s core NDA voter base, especially given some recent remarks by party leaders.
After the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan had said at a Muzaffarpur rally that minority communities had not supported Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, despite his efforts for them. Around the same time, Sitamarhi MP Devesh Chandra Thakur remarked that he would no longer work for Yadavs and Muslims, fueling speculation about Nitish Kumar’s strained ties with the Muslim electorate. His absence from a Waqf Board meeting further added to the discussion.
Despite these tensions, the Chief Minister has recently attended several events organized by the Muslim community as part of outreach ahead of the elections. Still, the first list’s omission of Muslim candidates is seen by analysts as a political recalibration ahead of the high-stakes Assembly polls in Bihar, scheduled in two phases on November 6 and 11, with vote counting on November 14.
