As the polling for the five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar is underway, a setback appears to be brewing for the Opposition Mahagathbandhan as four MLAs from alliance parties were reported missing or out of contact on the day of voting. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to gain from this confusion in the opposition ranks.
Four Bihar Opposition MLAs go missing
Three legislators from Congress - Surendra Prasad Kushwaha from Valmikinagar in the West Champaran district, Manoj Biswas from Forbesganj, and Manohar Prasad Singh from Manihari - were reportedly unreachable, with their mobile phones switched off and no contact established with party leaders.
Meanwhile, out of 25 MLAs of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), 24 have already cast their votes, while Faisal Ali, the party's MLA from Dhaka, has not yet reached the Assembly to vote.
Amid the absence of MLAs, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that no Congress MLAs were present in the Bihar Assembly during the voting. "I extend my advance congratulations to all my candidates. This is turning out to be a victory for the NDA alliance. There are no Congress MLAs present here. What can one say about a party in this condition?" he said.
Tejashwi Yadav on missing MLAs
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, on the absence of MLAs, said, "I feel we should wait. Don't you agree?"
Voting underway
Voting is underway for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, with nominees from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the fray. Polling began at 9 am and will continue until 4 pm at the Bihar Assembly complex, after which counting will begin.
Among the NDA candidates are Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United (JDU) president Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin. The other three nominees from the ruling coalition are Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, both sitting members of the Rajya Sabha, and BJP's Shivesh Kumar, who is seeking a berth in the Upper House of Parliament for the first time. The Opposition has fielded Amarendra Dhari Singh of the RJD, who is seeking re-election.
While the NDA has comfortable numbers to secure four seats, it falls slightly short of the numbers required to win the fifth seat and would need support from at least three Opposition MLAs.
The RJD-led Grand Alliance is hoping to secure victory for its lone candidate with the backing of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has five MLAs and has announced its support for the RJD nominee. To prevent possible cross-voting, the Grand Alliance had kept its MLAs at a hotel in Patna.
In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the NDA currently has around 202 MLAs, just three short of the number needed to comfortably secure all five Rajya Sabha seats. A candidate requires the support of at least 41 MLAs to win a seat in the Upper House.
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