BJP's first Bihar polls list out, adheres to social engineering

The ruling BJP on Tuesday sprang surprises with its first list of 71 candidates for the Bihar assembly polls, denying a ticket to Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, a seven-term MLA, while fielding deputy CM Samrat Choudhary in a direct election after over a decade.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran and PTI

However, there was no surprise in terms of the nature of the list with the BJP adhering to its tried and tested social engineering formula in poll bound Bihar, giving representation to candidates from across castes.

According to a senior party functionary, more than 60 percent of the tickets announced in the first list have been given to candidates from Dalits, backward, extremely backward communities and to women.