The election for 24 Bihar Legislative Council seats will be held on April 4 and the results will be announced on April 7.
Of the 24 seats, 13 were held by the BJP, eight by the JD(U), two by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and one seat by the Congress party. Of them, three had been vacant since November 2020 as the members were elected to the Assembly and the Darbhanga and the Samastipur seats fell vacant due to the death of the members.
The State Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for the Council poll.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar has already sealed the deal with 12 to the BJP and 11 to the JD(U). They agreed to spare one seat for Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras–led Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party. However, the two other alliance partners — Vikaasheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) — did not get any seat under the pact. The Mukesh Sahani-led VIP has announced it will contest all seats on its own.
Under the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), the Rashtriya Janata Dal has refused to make any alliance with the Congress party. It is said to have finalised the names of its candidates for many seats while the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) is still waiting a direction from the party high command.
Earlier, leaders of both parties held meetings in Delhi over distribution of seats but RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav later told media persons soon afterwards that his party would contest on its “own strength”.
The buzz is that the RJD would leave Bhagalpur for the CPI. In October 2021, the RJD and the Congress had fallen out over the Assembly bypoll for two seats — Tarapur (Munger) and Kusheshwarsthan(Darbhanga) — and both were defeated by the ruling JD(U).
Miffed State Congress leaders took a dig at Mr. Yadav who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. “Tejashwi Yadav is a big leader and now he should also announce that the RJD would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha poll on its own. In fact, the Congress has suffered most in the State because of its alliance with the RJD,” said senior leader and MLC Prem Chandra Mishra.
“Our top party leadership should immediately sever ties with the RJD. Otherwise, the party will be confined to Patna’s Sadaquat Ashram and in the files of the AICC,” senior State leader and AICC member Kishore Kumar Jha said.
