Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will be the BJP’s face from Patna Sahib, the constituency of actor-turned-rebel leader Shatrughan Sinha, the party announced on Saturday. Prasad is likely to face Sinha in the upcoming elections as there are reports that the actor will contest as a Congress candidate.

Sinha, who is expected to join the Mahagathbandhan comprising the Congress and the RJD besides several smaller parties, recently came out with a series of tweets decrying the ‘Main bhi chowkidaar’ campaign that is meant to be a riposte to AICC president Rahul Gandhi's "Chowkidar hi chor hai" barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Happy Holi to you, Sirji. Once again I will remind you politely but firmly do not get into the sting of the operations of #Chowkidar. The more you are defensive of Chowkidar, the more the nation will be reminded of unanswered questions about the Rafale deal which the people have been desperate to know," Sinha's tweeted.

The tweet came in his trademark style refraining from mentioning the prime minister by name but dropping ample hints to suggest whom he was referring to.

"By the way, Sir, in a very sudden, unprepared and defiant mood you addressed the Chowkidars of the nation (so-called 25 lakh.. don't know the basis of this figure, why not 21 or 2.5). May not have gone down well with the people and the chowkidars, whose conditions are not desirable. Most of them live below the poverty line," the actor-turned-politician said in another tweet.

Sinha, who won elections in 2014 on BJP ticket, had a fallout with the party leadership after he was left out of the cabinet. He has since publicly criticized the party leadership and the Prime Minister. The leader had triggered speculation earlier when he met Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, who has taken charge of the Rashtriya Janata Dal as his father serves a jail term for corruption.

In the Bihar list, Union minister Giriraj Singh, whose Nawada seat has gone to the LJP, has been shifted to Begusarai, his colleagues in the council of ministers Radha Mohan Singh, R K Singh, Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Ram Kripal Yadav will be fielded from their respective sitting seats of Motihari, Ara, Buxar and Pataliputra.

Lok Janshakti Party state president Pashupati Kumar Paras will be replacing his elder brother Ram Vilas Paswan in Hajipur. The Union minister is likely to get a Rajya Sabha ticket. Chirag Paswan will be seeking re-election from Jamui. Yadav also said the candidate for Khagaria Lok Sabha seat, which would be contested by the LJP, would be announced shortly.