PATNA, Oct. 22 -- The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) released its list of nominees for 143 seats on Monday, aiming to appeal to Kushwahas, EBCs, and women by allotting a significant number of tickets to these groups. Besides, it has allotted around 50 tickets to Yadavs and 18 to Muslims to maintain its traditional "Muslim-Yadav (M-Y)" poll combination, according to party insiders. Party leaders claimed the RJD has given a fair share of seats to Yadavs and Muslims, but has also given adequate representation to all caste groups including 21 women candidates , reflecting the party's commitment for development of all sections. "The RJD is not a M-Y party as it is considered or portrayed. This time, we have given tickets to 24 women candidates while an adequate number of tickets to people belonging to OBCs, EBCs and upper castes. The RJD is a 'A to Z' party giving representation to all as is the vision of Opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav," said RJD state spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary. Significantly, the RJD's bid to put 143 candidates as against 144 candidates contested in 2020 polls has signalled how the party is vying to remain as a seniormost partner in the seven party led coalition in Bihar through a formal seat sharing deal has not been announced by the Mahagathbandhan till date. The Congress on its part has issued a list of 60 candidates while Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) is contesting 15 seats even as CPI has put candidates in nine seats, CPM in four and CPI-ML(liberation) in 20 seats. Multiple nominations by Congress, the RJD and CPI have only put a question mark on the "unity" of the alliance even as there are reports of contests among the partners in at least 11 seats of which there is face-off between the RJD and Congress in four seats, four between CPI and Congress and two between VIP and RJD. Though the RJD has not denied tickets to old war horses and sitting MLAs in a big way, there are many new faces including dynasts and family members of heavyweight politicians having criminal records. It includes grandson of former RJD minister Raghunath Jha, Navneet Kumar Jha and Rishi Mishra, grandson of former railway minister Lalit Narayan Mishra, Dr Faraj Fatmi, son of former Union minister M A Fatmi as well Osama Saheb, son of deceased former Siwan MP and strongman Mohammed Shahabuddin. Shivani Shukla, daughter of incarcerated former MLA, Vijay Kumar Shukla and wife of strongman and former MP, Suraj Bhan, Veena Devi has also got a ticket from Mokama. Veena Devi is pitted against another strongman and former MLA, Anant Singh, who is contesting from the same constituency on a JD(U) ticket. Faraj Fatmi, son of former union minister Anita Devi Mahto, wife of strongman Ashok Mahto, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 parliamentary polls from Munger, has also got a ticket from Warsaliganj assembly seat in Nawada district. Incidentally, going by the caste affiliations of candidates and poll equations, the RJD this time has seemingly banked on OBCs Kushwaha caste group as like in 2024 parliamentary polls when the party had given around seven Kushwaha candidates out of 23 seats it contested. In this assembly polls, sources said around 13 Kushwaha candidates have been given tickets. Party has given a ticket from Dhamdaha assembly seat to Santosh Kushwaha, a two time former JD(U) MP from Purnea, who joined the RJD recently. Ajay Kushwaha too has been fielded from Vaishali assembly seat where the RJD is locked in a "friendly fight" with the Congress. "The RJD experimented with the M-Y plus K factor in 2024 polls and it did help in winning seats like Aurangabad. This time, the RJD is banking on the same combination to woo Kushwahas and also win seats where Kushwaha along with Yadavs and other groups have a dominance to corner the NDA," said another leader of the opposition Grand Alliance(GA). More importantly, the RJD this time has also given 21 tickets to women including some former MLA and minister Renu Kushwaha, Smita Purve Gupta, daughter-in-law of former minister and senior RJD leader, Ram Chandra Purbe, RJD spokesperson Ejaya Yadav and former MLA Prema Choudhary. Besides, the RJD has also tried to woo upper castes by giving around 16 tickets to the forward castes with a sizable number of tickets given to candidates from Rajputs, Bhumihars and Brahmin community, party officials claimed. "There is a focus on woo upper castes and we feel, the RJD has given tickets to upper castes in big numbers this time only to corner the ruling NDA in many seats where there is a sizable forward vote. It's a calculated move to create a new social base and earn political dividends by winning more seats," said a RJD leader. Apart from it , EBCs too has remained much in focus in ticket selection with around 21 nominees coming from different caste groups of the community including the Nonia community, which is considered having a sizable vote bank in Saran and other north Bihar districts. The RJD's alliance with Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) led by IP Gupta, who has got one seat in alliance, is also seen as a move by the INDIA bloc to consolidate its EBCs vote bank as Gupta's outfit claims to have support base among few section of EBCs like Tanti and Chaupal groups, the RJD officials claimed....