PATNA, Oct. 22 -- Campaigning for the high-pitched biennial elections for eight legislative council seats ended on Wednesday evening, setting the stage for polling on October 23. The seats falling vacant, with the terms of the sitting members expiring on November 16, are the four Graduates' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Kosi - and the four Teachers' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Saran. A total of around 150 candidates, including 90 for the graduates' seats and 60 for the teachers' seats, are in the fray. Darbhanga Graduates attracted the highest number of nominations (40), followed by Patna Graduates and Patna Teachers (22 each). Political observers say it is going to be a multi-cornered contest on most seats, as the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) in the state has fallen apart this time. Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party has also fielded its candidates on all eight seats, making the contest keen. More than 532,000 electors - graduates who have held a degree for at least three years and reside in the relevant constituency, and registered teachers - are eligible to vote. The BJP has named four candidates, including three sitting MLCs seeking re-election - Naval Kishore Yadav (Patna Teachers), NK Yadav (Kosi Graduates) and Sarvesh Kumar (Darbhanga Graduates). Narendra Prasad Singh is the BJP nominee for Tirhut Teachers. The JD(U) has fielded candidates for the remaining four seats, including sitting MLC Neeraj Kumar (Patna Graduates), Abhishek Jha (Tirhut Graduates), Anand Pushkar (Saran Teachers) and Ghanshyam Rai (Darbhanga Teachers). The RJD has fielded candidates on six seats, including Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Patna Teachers), Dilip Kumar (Patna Graduates), Anil Kumar Jha (Darbhanga Graduates), Nitesh Kumar (Kosi Graduates), Jairam Yadav (Saran Teachers) and Rashmi Vinayak Gautam (Tirhut Graduates). The Congress has put up its candidates on five seats, including sitting MLC Madan Mohan Jha (Darbhanga Teachers), Sanjay Yadav (Patna Teachers), Asadullah Khan (Patna Graduates), Rajnikant Pathak (Darbhanga Graduates) and Manoj Kumar Jaiswal (Kosi Graduates). Former media department head of the state Congress Rajesh Kumar Rathorre is contesting from Tirhut Teachers constituency as an Independent. This has led to direct contests between the two MGB allies on four seats. The CPI's sitting MLC Sanjay Kumar Singh is defending Tirhut Teachers. Jan Suraaj's nominees include Anuj Singh (Patna Graduates), candidates for Darbhanga and Kosi Graduates, Shyam Nandan Yadav (Tirhut Teachers), Afaq Ahmed (Saran Teachers) and others across the board. Several independents are also in the fray. A socio-political analyst Rama Shankar Arya said that these graduate and teacher constituencies traditionally emphasise professional networks, local influence and organisational reach over mass mobilisation. "The NDA enters with the advantage of incumbency and coordinated campaigning between its partners. The MGB faces the challenge of vote splits arising from overlapping candidatures between RJD and Congress. Jan Suraaj's presence adds an unpredictable third force that could draw support from sections of the educated electorate dissatisfied with established parties," added Arya....