RJD may not open account in RS poll

Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad is all set to be further marginalised in his fiefdom as his party may fail to open its account in the ensuing Rajya Sabha biennial elections.

Though only two out of total six Rajya Sabha members (retiring) belong to the RJD,  Lalu does not have the requisite strength in the state Assembly to get even one person of his choice elected to the Upper House.

This is in sharp contrast to the hey days when he could handpick anyone from anywhere – right from powerfully blessed souls to political non-entities – and send him/her to the Rajya Sabha.

To win a single seat in the Upper House, one needs at least 35 votes.
But with the RJD bagging just 22 seats in a House of 243 MLAs, it does not have the requisite strength, nor its alliance partner Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) could offer any additional support as it has just one MLA at its command.

The Congress, with four legislators, would not like to touch the RJD  with a barge pole.

But even it wants to extend a helping hand, the magic figure of 35 will still remain elusive.

While the term of two RJD MPs – Rajniti Prasad (who tore the Lokpal bill in RS) and Jabir Hussain – will come to an end, BJP’s national spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad is likely to be re-nominated.

The other three retiring members – Ali Anwar, Anil Sahni and Mahendra Prasad - belong to the ruling JD(U).

With the Nitish’s party having a strength of 118 MLAs and the BJP 91, the NDA is all set to grab the six seats.

The only question remains to be answered is whether JD(U) and the BJP will have three RS members each, or will it be in the ratio of 4:2.