Congress nominates five candidates for MLC polls in Bihar; an RJD ally in three of them

AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi. File | Photo credit: ANI

The Congress has announced five candidates for the Bihar Legislative Council polls held on October 23, opening a direct fight with alliance partner RJD in three seats.

Polls for eight seats in the upper house of the bicameral Bihar legislature are scheduled for October 23. The terms of four graduate chairs and as many faculty members will expire on November 16.

According to the list approved by Congress General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal late on Thursday evening (October 1, 2026), the party fielded its former state president Madan Mohan Jha for re-election from the Darbhanga teachers seat. The ŘJD has not announced its candidate for the seat.

The Congress candidate has been fielded by Sanjay Yadav from the Patna Teachers constituency, which is also not contested by the RJD.

However, it fielded Manoj Kumar Jaiswal, Rajnikant Pathak and Asadullah Khan from the Kosi Graduates, Darbhanga Graduates and Patna Graduates seats, all of whom also contested the RJD.

Read | BJP nominates four candidates for Bihar MLC election

The RJD had announced its candidates for six seats last month, adding cryptically that “a decision on the remaining seats is pending”.

In graduate constituencies, those who have a post-graduate degree from a recognized university in India for a period of at least three years and reside in the respective constituency are eligible to vote.

Similarly, those who have at least three years of teaching experience at secondary, higher and higher education institutions can vote for the Teacher constituencies. In both cases, voters must be registered in voter lists prepared for this purpose.

Published – 02 Oct 2026 09:47 IST