The BJP on Wednesday released its second list of 12 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, featuring nine names who will contest for the first time, including renowned folk singer Maithili Thakur, and dropped three sitting legislators.

Among the dozen names are two women and two Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

This takes the total number of BJP candidates to 83 — as per the NDA seat-sharing pact, the party has agreed to 101 seats — with the first list of 71 names announced Tuesday.

Maithili Thakur, who joined the BJP in Patna Tuesday, has been fielded from Alinagar — her maternal grandparents’ constituency — from where Mukesh Sahani -led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), the BJP’s former ally, had earlier fielded a candidate.

Thakur, who was earlier appointed as the ‘S

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