DANAPUR, Oct. 17 -- With a day left for filing of nomination for the first phase, more than 400 candidates filed their nomination papers till Thursday. The election for the first of assembly polls for 121 seats are scheduled on November 6. The nomination procedure ends on October 17. Till Wednesday, 349 candidates had filed their papers. Several prominent leaders including deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, Bihar ministers Nitin Nabin, Nitish Mishra, Neeraj Kumar Babluu and Ex-MP Ramkripal Yadav (all BJP); JD (U) ministers Vijay Kumar Chowdhary, Madan Sahni; Santosh Kumar and Bima Bharti (RJD) and former RJD MLA Tej Oratap Yadav filed their papers on Thursday. Don-turned-politician, RJD MLA from Danapur Ritlal Yadav, an under trial prisoner of Bhagalpur central jail on charges of demanding extortion from a builder, also filed his nomination as an RJD candidate from Danapur assembly constituency on Thursday while in police custody, less than six months after he surrendered in Danapur court. The scene at the Danapur subdivision office was charged with his supporters chanting slogans in Ritlal's support. He is the first MLA-cum-candidate of a political party who filed nomination papers from jail. Facing over 33 criminal cases of serious nature like murder and extortion, Yadav has been fielded by RJD from an important constituency of Patna district. He is the second gangster-turned-politician of Patna district to contest election from the state capital. Earlier, the JD(U) had fielded jailed don-turned-politician Anant Singh facing 37 cases from Mokama in Patna district. Singh, better called 'Chhote Sarkar', had won from this constituency three times on JD(U) ticket and once as an Independent and RJD symbol. Ritlal's name had also figured in the killing of former BJP MLA, Asha Devi's husband Satyanarayan Sinha in 2003. She will now be face to face with Ritlal in the electoral battle for the second time. In the 2020 election Ritlal defeated Asha Devi by over 20,000 votes. Ritlal had hit the headlines during the 2014 Lok Sabha electioneering after RJD chief Lalu Prasad, all of a sudden, appointed him party general secretary to get support for his daughter Misa Bharti, who was then contesting from Patliputra parliamentary constituency against BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav. This time Ram Kripal also contested from Danapur as BJP candidate. Then, Lalu had to face criticism in the media, especially for visiting Ritlal's village Kothwan near the state capital and seeking blessings from his father Ramashish Rai, who is the village mukhia. Lalu was then worried as Ritlal had announced his plan to file nomination papers as an independent from Patliputra constituency against Misa on March 25, 2014. Love for his daughter forced the RJD chief to bargain with the jailed gangster and appoint him the party's general secretary. Ritlal, who was elected as MLC from behind the bars, was released from jail on August 18, 2020 after being granted bail by the double bench of Patna HC comprising Justice Shivaji Pandey and Justice Partha Sarthy in a money laundering case. Earlier, the RJD had fielded Osama Sahab, son of former Siwan MP Mohd Sahabuddin from Raghunathpur assembly constituency in Siwan district. The RJD has also given ticket to Deepu Ranavat Yadav, son of sand mafia Arun Yadav, from Sandesh constituency. Arun and his wife were former MLA from Sandesh. RJD has also fielded the wife of former MP and muscleman Surajbhan from the Mokama assembly seat in Patna district while Vishwanath Yadav son of muscleman Surendra Yadav from the Belaganj constituency of Gaya district. Similarly criminal-turned-politician and former JD(U) MLA from Matihani assembly constituency Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo Singh now is in RJD and fielded from Matihani, has over a dozen cases of crime still pending against him. After filing nomination, Ritlal said he had received the order from Lalu Yadav and would serve the people. He criticised BJP candidate Ram Kripal Yadav, questioning his role in the region and calling him an outsider. "Ram Kripal has been in the RJD for 27 years. He wants everything for himself, he has been an MP, an MLC, a general secretary, and now he is contesting for MLA as well. Where will the people here go," questioned Ritlal while announcing that he will start a vegetable market and a 500-bed hospital, If he won the election a second time. Estranged elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Tej Pratap Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination papers from Mahua assembly seat in Vaishali district as a candidate of his newly formed outfit Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD). "People of Mahua have called me. This is why, I am filing my nomination from this seat. I will work for the all round development of my constituency," said Yadav, as he reached Mahua to file his papers. Yadav, 36, was seen carrying his grandmother Marichhiya Devi . "I have the blessings of my grandmother and my parents. I am going to be victorious," Yadav said, who in recent months has disassociated ties with his family after being expelled from the RJD following a controversy over a picture shared by the elder Yadav scion with a woman a few months back. Yadav, heading the newly formed outfit JJD, has announced to field several candidates across the state. The former minister is going to face a poll battle in the traditional RJD seat against sitting MLA Mukesh Kumar Raushan. Raushan has got an RJD symbol and filed his papers. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan has fielded Sanjay Singh from the seat as part of the alliance with BJP, JD(U) and other NDA partners. It may be mentioned, Tej Pratap represented Mahua seat from 2015 to 2020 before shifting his seat to Hassanpur in Samastipur district. Tej Pratap won the Hassanpur seat in 2020 polls Tej Pratap's nomination filed today did not evoke much reaction from the RJD leaders or younger brother and opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav but Lalu's second daughter Rohini Acharya wished his brother luck for the forthcoming polls. "May You achieve all the success and happiness in the world, and may you always move forward like a shining light... brother. Lots of best wishes..love and blessings," Acharya wrote on her X handle. On Wednesday, Acharya extended best wishes to her younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav , who filed his papers from Raghopur seat. Acharya's posts showing affection for her two brothers assumes significance as it's seen as a gesture by the 46-year-old homemaker-cum-politician to amend her relationship with her family in the backdrop of her outburst against RJD's way of functioning and oblique digs at Tejashwi's close aide and MP, Sanjay Yadav last month, triggering speculation as how 'sibling rivalry' had intensified in the RJD's first family. Tej Pratap had sided with Acharya in the whole episode and had defended his elder sister for taking a 'principled stand' on certain issues plaguing the RJD. The election in Mahua assembly seat will be held on November 6 in the first phase of election in Bihar....