Patna
All the nine candidates who filed their nominations for nine seats in the Bihar Legislative Council were declared elected unopposed on Monday, the last date of withdrawal of nomination.
Bihar Vidhan Sabha secretary VN Pandey, the returning officer for the elections handed over certificates to three each of JDU and RJD, two of BJP and one Congress nominee. Those declared elected are Ghulam Ghouse, Kumud Verma, Bhishm Sahani (all JDU), Mohammad Farooq, Sunil Kumar Singh and Chandrabali Singh Chandravanshi (all RJD), Sanjay Mayukh and Samrat Chaudhury (both BJP) and Sameeer Kumar Singh of Congress. Of them, only Sanjay Mayukh of BJP, has been retained for another term.
RJD's Mohammad Farooq is a Mumbai-based realtor, Sunil Kumar Singh is chairman of Bihar state marketing union and Chandrawanshi is from Patna University. RJD for the first time did not nominate a Yadav candidate while JDU fielded a Muslim, a woman and a backward caste leader.
Sanjay Mayukh of BJP who looks after the party's media is from the upper Kayastha caste, Samrat Chaudhdhury is from the influential Kushwaha caste and the Congress candidate too is from the upper caste - a Rajput. His father Rajendra Prasad Singh was a minister in Bihar in the 1980s.
The JDU has now emerged as the biggest party in the council.
