Bihar Rajya Sabha battle: NDA set for clean sweep as Opposition tally shrinks

Patna, Feb 18 (PTI) Hectic political activity is likely in Bihar as elections were announced for five Rajya Sabha seats, three of which are held by the ruling NDA, and it seems that the coalition is poised to wrest the remaining ones from a decimated opposition.

According to a notification issued by the Election Commission, filing of nomination papers will begin on February 26 and polling will take place on March 16.

Two of the seats are currently held by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, the JD(U).

Both sitting MPs, Ram Nath Thakur, a Union minister and son of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh, are enjoying their second consecutive terms.

Notably, Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, had a few years ago denied a third consecutive term to RCP Singh, a former national president, who had to resign from the Union cabinet as a consequence.

The party had then justified the move claiming that it was the party's policy to not award Rajya Sabha berths to the same person for more than two consecutive terms.

Party sources here were tight-lipped on whether it was likely that an exception would be made this time, since adherence to the stated policy would rob the two sitting MPs of their constitutional posts.

The third seat currently held by the NDA is with Upendra Kushwaha, a former Union minister who entered the Upper House in 2025 with the help of BJP, which backed him in a by-election necessitated by Vivek Thakur getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

Although Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha is a small, but important ally, promising a chunk of votes of the powerful OBC caste Koeri, NDA sources feel he has got his pound of flesh, with his son Deepak Prakash making it to the state cabinet despite not being a member of the legislature.

As per rules, Prakash must get elected to either House of the state legislature by May in order to retain his berth. With his party having only four MLAs, including his mother Snehlata, in the 243-member assembly, the RLM chief's son will have to heavily depend on the support of bigger allies, JD(U) and BJP, for securing a berth in the legislative council.

The remaining two seats are held by the RJD, the principal opposition party in the state, which is now left with only 25 MLAs, far too fewer than the number it would require to retain a Rajya Sabha berth.

One of its sitting MPs is Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister and key aide of party supremo Lalu Prasad. Gupta is enjoying his fifth consecutive term in the Rajya Sabha.

The other Rajya Sabha MP in question is Amarendra Dhari Singh, a Patna based businessman, who was said to have handpicked by Prasad's heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav with the hope that it will make the party popular with Upper caste Bhumihars.

According to the formula for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, a candidate must get at least 40 votes to get through. The assembly polls held in November last year saw the NDA grabbing 202 seats. The RJD and its allies, the Congress and the Left, were bundled out for a combined tally of 35.

Although none of the seats going to polls is at present held by the BJP, which, with 89 MLAs, is the single largest party in the assembly, it is expected to make a grab.

Speculations are rife that one of the BJP candidates could be Nitin Nabin, who was last month made national president of the party, in a surprise development that underscored the rise of "third generation" of leaders in the four and a half decades old organisation.

Nabin, who had resigned from the Nitish Kumar cabinet in December, soon after being made the national working president, continues to hold the Bankipur assembly seat. It is felt that in view of his new and greater responsibilities, he may give up a constituency nurtured over multiple terms.

Another claimant from the NDA is likely to be Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan. The party had a 100 per cent strike rate in Lok Sabha polls of 2025, when it contested five seats.

In the assembly elections held last year, it contested 28 seats, winning 19, and two of its MLAs have been inducted into the state cabinet.

However, Paswan, who is in his early 40s, wants to expand his party and hopes that his mightier allies will accommodate his ambitions since his presence in the NDA guarantees the votes of "Dusadhs", the most populous and influential Dalit caste in Bihar.

NDA sources admit that in the run up to the Rajya Sabha elections, a fresh whimper may emanate from Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, the lone MP of Hindustani Awam Morcha, who feels his party has not got a square deal, even though his son Santosh, who had become an MLC with BJP's support, is a minister.

The party, which claims to enjoy support of Musahars, the most down and out among Dalits, has five MLAs, including wife and mother-in-law of Santosh. PTI