Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, right front, with BJP National President and NDA candidate Nitin Nabin, centre front, during voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, at Vidhan Sabha in Patna, on Monday, March 16. PTI
Bihar Rajya Sabha polls: Full turnout for NDA, 4 Opposition MLAs absent
According to the formula for Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, each candidate would have needed at least 41 votes to win, had all 243 MLAs turned up to take part in polling
Patna, Mar 16 (PTI) The ruling NDA in Bihar on Monday appeared poised for an easy victory in the biennial polls to five Rajya Sabha seats, with its candidates including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin.
Though counting of votes was expected to conclude later in the evening, sources in the NDA claimed that "all 202 MLAs" belonging to the alliance had taken part in the polling.
These included Kumar's JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha of Upendra Kushwaha, who is one of the five candidates.
On the other hand, the opposition Mahagathbandhan appeared to falter, with three MLAs of the Congress and one of the RJD remaining absent from the polling on a day when even parties not aligned with the coalition, like AIMIM and BSP, were present.
The AIMIM, which has five MLAs in the Assembly, and the lone BSP legislator claimed to have voted in favour of RJD candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh.
Sources said that had the absent MLAs been present, their support might have helped the opposition clinch one of the seats.
According to the formula for Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, each candidate would have needed at least 41 votes to win, had all 243 MLAs turned up to take part in polling. PTI