PATNA: In a major political development, the JD(U) on Sunday decided not to send its lone Union minister R C P Singh to the Rajya Sabha for a third consecutive term.
Instead, the JD(U) announced the name of its Jharkhand state president and former MLA Khiru Mahto as the party’s official candidate for the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. Khiru was the party MLA from Jharkhand’s Mandu seat from 2005 to 2009.
“Khiru will be the party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Bihar,” JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said in an one-line statement issued here on Sunday evening, sending a shock wave among the supporters of R C P.
Like R C P, Khiru belongs to Kurmi community. Only difference between the two is that R C P hails from Nalanda in Bihar while Khiru is a native of Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district.
R C P’s second term in the Rajya Sabha will expire on July 7. As he has not been re-nominated for the Rajya Sabha by his political mentor and party’s de facto leader Nitish Kumar, he would have to resign as cabinet minister of Narendra Modi government. R C P is the only minister from JD(U) in the Modi government. Earlier, the JD(U) had authorized Nitish to select the name of party candidate for the Rajya Sabha election.
Meanwhile, the BJP too dropped the name of Gopal Narayan Singh, its one of the two sitting Rajya Sabha members whose term will expire on July 7 this year.
However, the saffron party retained Satish Chandra Dubey and decided to send him to the Upper House for a second consecutive term.
BJP’s another candidate is Shambhu Sharan Patel. Hailing from the extremely backward caste, Dhanuk, Patel was earlier with JD(U). He joined the BJP a few years ago.
