JD(U) names two for polls to Upper House

PATNA: The ruling Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), on Wednesday announced the names of two of its Rajya Sabha (RS) candidates from Bihar. The party has renominated Upper House deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and member of Parliament (MP) and a senior leader from the extremely backward class (EBC) Ram Nath Thakur, the son of veteran socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced Vivek Thakur, son of MP and former Union minister Dr CP Thakur, as its candidate. Bashishtha Narain Singh, JD(U) state president and the party’s RS MP, announced the names of candidates after holding consultations with CM Nitish

Kumar earlier in the day. The term of five of the 16 RS members from Bihar expires on April 9, including Singh, Thakur, Kahkashan Parween (all from JD(U)), and Ravindra Kishore Sinha and CP Thakur (from the BJP).

The NDA is likely to retain three seats. The BJP may win one seat and the JD(U) looks to wrest two in line with their respective strengths of 54 and 70 in the Bihar legislative assembly. The other NDA constituent, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), has two seats in the Upper House.

The main opposition, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which has 80 members, may win two seats with outside support from the Communist Party of India (Marxist–leninist), or CPI(M-L) , and independents. For each seat, 41.5 or 42 votes would be required in the 243-member assembly.