Folk singer Maithili Thakur joins BJP ahead of Bihar assembly polls

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 14 : In a significant boost to the party ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, folk and devotional singer Maithili Thakur on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna in the presence of Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal.
Thakur is likely to contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Alinagar in Darbhanga, according to the sources. The polling for Bihar's 243-seat Assembly is scheduled to take place on November 6 and November 11, with the counting set for November 14.
Speaking on the occasion, Bihar BJP President Jaiswal exuded confidence in the NDA's victory, saying that the voters have made up their minds to form an NDA government with a "thumping majority."
He also took a dig at the opposition Mahagathbandhan, saying that they are "disheartened and depressed" and claimed more than half a dozen of its MLAs will soon join the BJP.
"Opposition is disheartened and depressed. They are attempting to say something or the other before the media...Voters have made up their minds to form NDA Govt with a thumping majority...More than a dozen MLAs from RJD-Congress will join the BJP. Aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya...Opposition is collapsing everywhere; it has a 'flat tyre'," Jaiswal said during the press conference.
Earlier in the day, the BJP released its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
The Central Election Committee approved Mangal Pandey for Siwan, Tarkishore Prasad for Katihar, Ramkripal Yadav for Danapur, Nitin Nabin for Bankipur, Renu Devi for Bettiah, Prem Kumar for Gaya Town, Shreyasi Singh for Jamui, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Deputy Chief Minister, for Lakhisarai, and Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary for Tarapur for the Bihar Assembly elections, among others.
According to the release, the BJP Central Election Committee met on October 12, under the chairmanship of Jagat Prakash Nadda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, along with other members of the Central Election Committee, were present during the deliberations.
On Sunday, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar elections, with the BJP and JDU to contest on 101 seats each, the LJP (Ram Vilas) on 29 seats, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha on six seats, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) on six seats.
In these elections, the NDA will be up against the INDIA bloc, led by Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, the Congress, the CPI (ML) led by Deepankar Bhattacharya, the CPI, the CPM, and Mukesh Sahani's Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). This time, Bihar will also see the entry of a new player in the form of Prashant Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj.