Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) on Thursday released its second list of 44 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

A day earlier, the party had announced 57 names. With the second list, it has declared candidates for all 101 seats it will contest.

The elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, and votes will be counted on November 14.

Several ministers, including Sheila Mandal, Vijendra Prasad Yadav, Leshi Singh, Jayant Raj and Mohammad Zama Khan, feature on the Janata Dal (United)’s second list.

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Under the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s seat-sharing arrangement, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United) will contest 101 seats each out of the total 243 Assembly constituencies.

The Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party has been allotted 29 seats, while the Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha will contest six seats each.

The BJP has already announced its candidates for all 101 seats, while Union minister Chirag Paswan has released the first list of 14 candidates from his party.

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The Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance is yet to announce its seat-sharing deal.

The alliance comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, Pashupati Kumar Paras’ Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party and three Left parties – Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

In the 2020 Assembly polls, the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan ended up with an identical vote share at 37.2%.

However, the NDA returned to power in Bihar with a slender majority, winning 125 seats in the 243-member state Assembly. The Opposition bagged 110 seats.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats but still lost the election.