The Congress on Thursday announced five candidates for the October 23 Bihar Legislative Council polls, setting up direct contests with alliance partner Rashtriya Janata Dal in three seats.

The list, approved by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, names former state president Madan Mohan Jha for re-election from the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency and Sanjay Yadav from the Patna Teachers’ constituency. The RJD has not announced candidates for these two seats.

For the graduates’ constituencies, the Congress fielded Manoj Kumar Jaiswal from Kosi, Rajnikant Pathak from Darbhanga and Asadullah Khan from Patna. The RJD is contesting all three seats, having announced its six candidates last month.

Polling will be held for eight seats in the Upper House, four each from graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies. The terms of the sitting members end on November 16.

In graduates’ constituencies, voters must hold a graduate degree for at least three years. In teachers’ constituencies, voters need at least three years of teaching experience.

Nominations close on October 6, scrutiny is on October 7, and counting is scheduled for October 27.