PATNA, Sept. 21 -- Setting the tone for the Bihar Legislative Council elections for eight seats - four each from the graduate and teachers' constituencies - scheduled in November, Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday reiterated his government's resolve to give pay-scale to the teachers of unaided institutions. He was speaking a day after releasing Rs.461-crore grant-in-aid for payment of long pending salary to teachers and employees of unaided institutions at a function to felicitate him for his announcement of pay-scale. Bihar Vidhan Parishad chairman Avadhesh Narayan Singh and several MLCs from teacher and graduate constituencies were present at the function having a large presence of teachers from unaided institutions. "Right now the government has released Rs.461-crore, but a lot more is in the pipeline. It is to the tune of Rs.1,700-crore. There is no dearth of money. I will meet you again and do full justice. It is the government's responsibility. You just have to keep showering your blessings," he added The CM said that all the MLCs seated in the hall championed the cause of teachers of unaided institutions. "You all will certainly get the pay-scale. There are certain issues which are being resolved. I will hold discussions with you all the stakeholders. Education has been my main priority from day one and I am working in that direction. Bihar will change with your efforts only," he said, praising Nawal Kishore Yadav for organising the programme. The announcement of Samrat Choudhary to give a separate pay-scale to teachers and employees of hundreds of unaided institutions is being seen as a potential game changer for the NDA. Council Chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh also said that it was a historic decision for which the teachers had been waiting for 42 years. Political parties have begun making their moves, and new players are flexing their muscles ahead of the Council elections scheduled for November. Of the eight seats, Independents currently hold three, the BJP two, while the JD-U, Congress, and the CPI each hold one. This time, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party has emerged as a new player, announcing its intent to field candidates for all eight seats. On Sunday, Kishor announced the names of five candidates, including Afaq Ahmad, who won the by-elections in April 2023 from Saran teachers' seat as an independent candidate backed by Jan Suraaj. The party's other candidates graduate seats are Rajnish Ranjan (Kosi) and Ravindra Yadav (Darbhanga), while from teachers' seats SP Roy (Darbhanga) and Divya Gautam (Patna) have been fielded. The candidates for Patna and Tirhut (graduate) and Tirhut (Teachers) seats would be announced in the next 3-4 days, said Kishor, exhorting the teachers and graduates to vote for themselves if they wished any turnaround in their fortunes. Addressing graduate constituency voters, Kishor also promised that if JSP candidates win, 10,000 jobs would be facilitated for unemployed graduates in each graduate constituency, similar to a job-related promise he had made to educated unemployed voters in his Bankipur constituency. Lawyer and academician-turned-politician Divya Jyoti, who joined the party last week, was fielded from Patna teachers' constituency, which is currently being held by JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. "I will try to form a joint struggle committee of teachers' bodies to unitedly raise their demands for 7th pay, realistic solution of long-pending unaided education policy and resolve the problem due to involvement of teachers in non-academic work whimsically. I will also work for 10k jobs for graduate voters," he added. Kishore said the teachers' struggle in Bihar has been going on against the system for several years. "Whether it is the issue of appointed teachers, the TRE examination, pay scales, the involvement of teachers in non-academic work or the mismanagement of unaided and aided institutions... Our stand so far has been that the teaching community itself is divided into several associations and there are different kinds of teachers. The condition of teachers will improve only when education is given importance and priority in Bihar " he added. Of the eight seats going to polls, RJD has fielded six candidates, though it has no sitting seat, and left only Darbhanga and Kosi teacher seats for the alliance partners, sparking differences within Opposition Mahagathbandhan. An upset Congress has announced to field candidates on all eight seats. The Darbhanga (teacher) seat is represented by former Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha. There are also left parties, who have traditionally contested the seats. CPI's Sanjay Kumar Singh is the sitting candidate from the Tirhut seat. How opposition alliance works out the differences will be crucial. Even from within the RJD, disgruntled voices have emerged. NDA, too, has differences, especially over the Patna (graduate) seat, which has been represented thrice by JD-U's Neeraj Kumar. But this time, Mokama MLA Anant Singh has thrown his weight behind Anuj Kumar, who is tipped to be the Jan Suraj candidate. Jan Suraj is yet to officially announce its candidate for the seat. In the Patna (teacher) seat, Prof Nawal Kishore Yadav is trying for his sixth consecutive term, and is pitted against first timer Dr Sanjiv Kumar from the RJD and Dvya Gautam, who runs many educational institutions, of the Jan Suraj. The advantage for Yadav is that he is a teacher with long reach in the teaching community. Though the NDA is likely to retain its three seats, it has not officially announced the names of its candidates, which is likely after the announcement of election in the coming weeks. But it has sounded the potential candidates to start working in their respective constituencies. In the Legislative Council elections, candidates' local influence, standing among graduate and teacher voters, and the strength of party organisations are expected to be key factors, officials noted....