Patna:

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has formally announced its candidates for all but one of the 23 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, where it is contesting as an opposition member ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

Rohini Acharya and Misa Bharti, daughters of party president Lalu Prasad Yadav, are among the RJD’s nominees.

According to a press release issued by RJD state president Jagdanand Singh late on Tuesday, Ms Acharya will contest from Saran, a seat her father won multiple times.

Lalu Yadav represented the seat until he was disqualified in 2013 after being convicted in a fodder scam.

His eldest daughter Ms. Bhatti, who is enjoying her second term in the Lok Sabha, will try her luck in the Patriputra Lok Sabha constituency.

A party worker said a candidate for Siwan has not yet been announced and the RJD has fielded the late Mohd Shahubuddin for years.

Under the seat-sharing arrangement among the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ partners, the RJD retained 26 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, of which nine were reserved for the Congress and five for Left parties.

The RJD last week struck a deal with former Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni, whose Vikashsheel Insaan party got three seats from its quota.

Sudhakar Singh will get RJD ticket from Buxar Lok Sabha seat while Ali Asharaf Fatmi will contest from Madhubani Contested from the seat, Surendra Prasad contested from Jehanabad seat.

Other RJD candidates include Kumar Sarvjeet (Gaya), Shrawan Kumar Kushwaha (Nawada), Bima Bharti (Purnea) and Archana Ravidass (Jamui). All four have submitted nominations.

The party has also nominated Jai Prakash Yadav from Banka, Lalit Yadav from Darbhanga and Chandrahas Chaupal from Supaul.

Alok Kumar Mehta will compete on RJD ticket from Ujiyarpur, Arjun Ai from Sitamarhi, Deepak Yadav from Valmikinagar, Ritu Jaiswal from Seohar and Kumar Chandradeep from Madhepura.

The Lok Sabha elections in Bihar will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with 40 seats to be elected.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)