Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Rabri Devi were among 11 candidates who were elected unopposed on Thursday to the State Legislative Council.
Earlier, the Election Commission had announced biennial polls for 11 seats of the Upper House in the State.
Mr. Kumar, who is also JD(U) president, was elected to the Council for the fourth consecutive term while party leader Khalid Anwar was elected for the second consecutive term. The other alliance partner of NDA, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Santosh Kumar Suman, who is the son of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, too was elected to the Council. The three BJP candidates Mangal Pandey, Anamika Singh and Dr. Lal Mohan Gupta were elected to the Council as well.
From the Opposition Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), all four candidates of the principal coalition partner RJD — Rabri Devi, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Urmila Thakur and Faisal Ali — were elected along with one candidate Shashi Yadav from ally Communist of Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) to the Council unopposed as March 14 was the last date for the candidates to withdraw their papers by March 14. Except these 11 candidates, no other candidate filed the nomination for the Council seats. Out of 11 seats, the NDA got six while the Mahagathbandhan secured five seats in the Council.
No Congress candidate
Earlier, it was speculated that grand alliance ally Congress too would field one candidate for the Council seat as party leader Prem Chandra Mishra’s term had come to an end while the party has a total of 19 MLAs in the Assembly. But the Congress kept itself away from the Council polls.
Some senior party leaders told The Hindu that the party has been assured it would get more seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls than it had contested in 2019. Out of the total 40 LS seats in Bihar, the Congress had contested nine seats in the previous election and won the lone seat of Kishanganj. “This time in 2024 LS election, we may get 11 seats to contest under Mahagathbandhan alliance,” said a senior party leader preferring anonymity.
Cabinet expansion likely
Meanwhile, the buzz in Bihar political circles is that Mr. Kumar may expand his Cabinet very soon and the NDA would also announce its final seat-sharing arrangement for the State. It is said that out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the NDA has finalised the number of seats to contest and “only announcement is to be done”.
Under the expected agreement, it is said that the BJP would stand in 17 seats (the same number it had contested and won in 2019 parliamentary polls), the JD(U) on 16 (the number it had emerged on top in the last LS polls), five seats have been given to Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and one seat each for Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of Jitan Ram Manjhi.
“All will be cleared very soon,” quipped a senior State BJP leader on condition of anonymity when asked about the seat-sharing numbers for NDA in Bihar.
