Bihar RS Polls: AIMIM's Akhtarul Iman Meets RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav, Hints At Common Opposition Candidate For Fifth Seat

Patna: RJD-led opposition is likely to field a common candidate for the fifth Rajya Sabha seat in Bihar as state AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman met RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday, triggering speculation about it.

Akhtarul Iman Claims Tejashwi Assured Support

After meeting Tejashwi, Iman said that Tejashwi assured him to consider RJD extending its support to the AIMIM candidate in the RS polls. “Tejashwi ji has assured us. After all we have to support each other on various issues in the days to come,” he asserted.

He said that he told Tejashwi to support his party in the RS polls and in future, AIMIM would also reciprocate the gesture whenever such a situation arose.

Tejashwi Yadav Confident of Opposition Victory

On the other hand, Tejashwi, who is national working president of Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) claimed that the Opposition had already started preparations for the polls.

“We will field our candidate and will also win the seat,” Filing of nominations for the five seats began on Thursday.

In response to a media query, RJD leader said that the name of the candidate will be finalised soon. Earlier, RJD MLA from Maner Bhai Virendra had proposed the name of Hena Sahab, wife of former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, as party’s candidate.

RJD has 25 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly.

AIMIM has only five MLAs in the state assembly, yet it is eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has one MLA while Congress has its nine legislators.

BJP and JD(U) Set for Two Seats Each

BJP and JD(U) have two seats each and the fight is expected on the fifth seat. JD (U) is likely to field a bureaucrat-turned politician Manish Kumar Verma to the Upper House in place of Harivansh, who has been a member of the House for two consecutive terms.

Another JD(U) leader Ramnath Thakur, son of former chief minister and socialist icon Lok Nayak Karpoori Thakur, is most likely to retain the seat. Manish Verma is considered close to Bihar chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar.

In BJP, several names are doing the rounds. On Thursday, Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh met BJP national president Nitin Nabin. After the meeting, Pawan told the media that it was a courtesy meeting and nothing else. However, he said that he was a true ‘sipahi’ of BJP and 'malik' would decide the issue.