Jitan Ram Manjhi: Former Bihar chief minister contesting from two seats — Imamganj (Gaya district) in addition to Makhdumpur (Jehanabad) which is his sitting seat. Emerged as a prominent Dalit leader after his ouster from parent JD-U in the aftermath of bitter power struggle with his mentor Nitish Kumar. Has formed his own party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) which is now a part of the NDA. HAM is contesting on 21 seats in Bihar with Manjhi leading his party’s poll campaign. 

Uday Narayan Chaudhary: Bihar assembly Speaker who has never lost any election held since 2000 is contesting from his home Imamganj seat and is locked in a bitter fight with Manjhi who considers the former as his Enemy No 2 after chief minister Nitish Kumar. 

Nand Kishore Yadav: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, he is contesting from Patna Sahib seat again. He is one of the BJP leaders in the race for the post of the Bihar chief minister. 

Lovely Anand: Wife of incarcerated don Anand Mohan sentenced to life imprisonment in murder of bureaucrat G Krishnaiah. Contesting on HAM ticket. 

Pashupati Kumar Paras: Brother of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and also state party president. Initially, he was fielded from two seats Alauli (Khagaria district) and Raja Pakar (Vaishali district) which is part of Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency currently represented by his elder brother Paswan in LS but later withdrew his candidature from Raja Pakar seat following strong protests by the party workers and even his own kin. He had lost the Alauli (hometown) seat last time and hence wanted to try his luck from two seats this time. 

Vijay Kumar Chaudhary: A minister for water resources, agriculture and information & public relations department, he enjoys the second top position in the Nitish Kumar government and is contesting from Sarairanjan seat in Samastipur district. He is pitted against a BJP candidate Ranjeet Nirguni, a highly educated young man who joined politics after facing a case involving his family. 

Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav: Sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, they are making their political debut to carry forward the legacy of their father who can’t join any election for his sentencing in the fodder scam. The eldest son Tej Pratap is contesting from Mahua assembly seat while younger son Tejashwi is trying his luck from Raghopur seat which has been the traditional seat of his parents. Both his father Prasad and mother Rabri Devi has represented the seat in the past but in the last 2010 state polls, his mother lost to the JD-U candidate. 

Prince Raj: Nephew of LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan, he too is a second generation politician making his political debut from Kalyanpur seat in Samstipur which incidentally is represented by his father Ram Chandra Paswan in the Lok Sabha. 

Ramdhani Singh: A Health minister in the Nitish Kumar government, he resigned from his post after he was denied a ticket by the party on age grounds. An angry Singh later joined Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) which retained his candidature from Karahgar seat in Rohtas district. He is in his 80s, but claims to be as young as Nitish Kumar who is 64 year-old. 

Shakuni Chaudhary: State president of HAM contesting from Tarapur seat in Munger district. He got the ticket reward since he was one of the leaders who strongly backed Manjhi against Kumar during the bitter power struggle.

KEY PLAYERS OUT OF CONTEST

Nitish Kumar: Being the main star campaigner of his party (JD-U), Bihar chief minister is not contesting the elections this time again. Instead, he has focused his attention on launching intensive campaigns for the Grand Secular Alliance candidates in a bid to match the high-decibel campaign by his arch-rival Narendra Modi. 

Lalu Prasad: The RJD chief finds himself out of the election fray after being convicted by the court in the multi-million dollar fodder scam although he had stopped taking interest in state politics long back. Right now, he is devoting his time to launching poll campaigns for the alliance candidates. 

Rabri Devi: The former chief minister too is out of poll fray this time now that she remains a member of Bihar Legislative Council. Right now, devoting her full time to actively campaign for her two sons, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav who are making political debut. She apparently chose to stay out of the contest after her successive defeats in the last year’s LS polls and also in 2010 state polls when she had contested from two seats. She had lost both. 

Sushil Kumar Modi: A former deputy chief minister in erstwhile NDA government, he too is not contesting the polls, as he is busier in coordinating with the central leadership, overseeing the party’s poll strategy and campaigning for NDA candidates. The senior-most BJP leader from Bihar is far ahead in the race for the chief minister’s post.