RJD to distribute tickets on basis of candidate’s popularity

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders have said that the ticket distribution for each constituency would be done on the basis of the popularity of candidates.

Tej Pratap Yadav, the state's former Health Minister and elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, said that an internal survey is currently underway in Bihar and the agency involved in the exercise is interacting with voters and taking their feedback.

"Based on the reports, the party's core committee will decide the eligibility of candidates. It is a democratic process to choose winning candidates for the party. It will also minimise chances of less eligible candidates to bag ticket on the basis of good contacts with top leadership," he said.

Tej Pratap also said that "ticket distribution is extremely secret operation within the party".

"Even, I did not know from which constituency I would be fielded," he added.

In the 2015 Assembly election, he won from the Mahua constituency in Vaishali.

However, there was speculation that this time, he wants to contest from Hasanpur seat in Samastipur district as his former wife Aishwarya could be a possible candidate of the Janta Dal-United (JD-U) from Mahua.

Slamming the BJP-JD-U government in the state, he said the youths of Bihar are jobless and labourers who returned during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown are re-migrating to other states.

"The Nitish Kumar government has completely failed," he added.