Prashant Kishor's JSP announces 5 candidates for Bihar Legislative Council polls

Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor on Sunday announced candidates for five Bihar Legislative Council constituencies, where elections are likely to be announced soon.Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor (ANI File)Elections are to be held for a total of eight Bihar Council constituencies, whose terms expire in November. Four of these are graduates' seats, while the other four are teachers' constituencies.This election is separate from the Bihar Assembly polls, and is conducted to elect members of the Legislative Council, the state legislature's upper house. Only six states in the country, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, have an upper house in their legislative framework.The upcoming polls in Bihar will cover four graduates' and four teachers' constituencies across around 30 districts. JSP had earlier said it would contest all eight seats, as part of its organisational expansion strategy.In the MLC polls, candidates' local influence, standing among graduate and teacher voters, and the strength of party organisations are expected to be key factors.The candidates fielded by Prashant Kishor's JSPAddressing a press conference, Prashant Kishor announced the names of five candidates, including Afaq Ahmed, who will seek re-election from the Saran teachers' constituency. Ahmed is an incumbent from the seat, which he won six years ago with the support of the former poll strategist, who was then yet to float his party.Lawyer and academician-turned-politician Divya Jyoti, who joined the Jan Suraaj Party last week, was fielded from Patna teachers' constituency. This seat is currently held by JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.The party has also fielded S P Rai from the Darbhanga teachers' constituency, Ravindra Yadav from the Darbhanga graduates' seat, and Rajnish Ranjan from the Kosi graduates' constituency, he said.