Former Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha is likely to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar following late-night discussions with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, sources said on Tuesday.
Kushwaha met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president Nitin Naveen, where talks focused on the vacant Rajya Sabha seat and the evolving political situation in Bihar. Sources indicated that the meeting was positive and that Kushwaha's nomination is being seriously considered as part of the BJP-led alliance's strategy.
With numbers firmly stacked in its favour in the 243-member Assembly, the ruling NDA is set to win four of the five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan is expected to secure one.
Rajya Sabha Elections
The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that biennial elections to 37 seats in the Rajya Sabha will be held on March 16. The seats are falling vacant on different dates in April. The polls will take place across 10 states: Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar. The elections have been necessitated as the incumbent members are retiring this year.
The maximum number of Rajya Sabha seats going to polls is in Maharashtra at 7, while 6 seats are falling vacant in Tamil Nadu, and six each in West Bengal and Bihar. Odisha will have 4 seats falling vacant. Assam will see polls to 3 seats. Chhattisgarh and Haryana will each have 2 seats going to polls, as will Telangana. Himachal Pradesh will have 1 seat up for election.
Members retiring from Rajya Sabha
Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP), Harivansh Narayan Singh (JDU), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), Ram Nath Thakur (JDU), Ramdas Athawale (RPI-A), Kiran Chaudhary (BJP), KTS Tulsi (Congress), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Upendra Kushwaha (RLM), Saket Gokhale (TMC), Ritabrata Banerjee (TMC), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), GK Vasan (TMC-M), and M Thambidurai (AIADMK) are some of the members who are retiring from Rajya Sabha.
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