Former Bihar MLC Manorama Devi will contest the upcoming bypolls for the Belaganj assembly seat on a Janata Dal (United) ticket, the party announced Monday.
Devi will face RJD’s Vishwanath Kumar Singh, who is vying to hold onto the seat left vacant by his father, Surendra Prasad Yadav, after his Lok Sabha win from Jehanabad.
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Manorama Devi is the widow of Bindeshwari Yadav, a local strongman and former chairman of Gaya’s zila parishad. Her nomination is a strategic move by JD(U) to disrupt the Muslim-Yadav vote base that Lalu Prasad’s RJD has cultivated over the years.
Although politically sidelined since her second term as MLC ended in 2021, Devi was thrust back into the spotlight when the NIA raided her residence, probing alleged Naxal links tied to her late husband. Both her husband and son, Rocky, were also embroiled in a road rage case in 2016, and Devi faced accusations of violating Bihar’s prohibition laws soon after the liquor ban came into effect.
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Belaganj, located in Gaya district and part of the Jehanabad Lok Sabha constituency, is in for a three-way contest. Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party has thrown its hat in the ring, fielding Khilafat Hussain, a local academic.
With bypolls set to take place across four assembly seats next month, JD(U) is focusing its efforts on Belaganj. Meanwhile, BJP has named candidates for Ramgarh and Tarari, and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is reportedly backing his daughter-in-law Deepa for Imamganj, which became vacant after his election to the Lok Sabha from Gaya.