Patna: Political parties are gearing up for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held in April to fill up five seats going vacant from Bihar.
The tenure of five Rajya Sabha members - Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh from RJD, Harivansh and Ram Nath Thakur from the JD (U), and Upendra Kushwaha from the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) will expire. A candidate will require the support of at least 41 MLAs to secure a Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar. With 202 MLAs, NDA can comfortably secure four seats but for the fifth one, the ruling alliance will need the support of three more MLAs.
While BJP`s national working president Nitin Nabin who is presently MLA from Bankipur is most probably will be sent to Rajya Sabya, it will be interesting to see whether RLM chief Kushwaha is re-nominated to the upper house of the parliament. Last time, BJP sent him to Rajya Sabha after he suffered defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Karakat. RLM has four MLAs in the assembly. Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh’s name is also doing the rounds. He returned to BJP last year and contrary to all expectations, he did not contest the election.
From Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD (U), both outgoing MPs—Harivansh and Ram Nath Thakur—are also likely to be re-nominated to Rajya Sabha. While Harivansh is deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, Thakur, son of former Bihar chief minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, is presently union minister of state.
The fifth Rajya Sabha seat may witness a keen contest as NDA will need support of three more MLAs to win it, while the opposition INDIA bloc which has won only 35 seats is six votes short of the required number to win even one seat on their own. Five MLAs from Asaduddin Owaisi`s AIMIM and one BSP member, who do not belong to either ruling alliance or the opposition bloc, will be closely watched in the Rajya Sabha elections, remarked a political analyst.
