<p>Patna: After the Bihar Assembly elections, all eyes are now on Rajya Sabha elections in the State, slated for March 16. </p><p>Out of five seats from Bihar falling vacant in April, there is no suspense over four being all set to be wrested by the NDA, given the strength of the JD (U)-led alliance in the Assembly. </p><p>The suspense, however, remains over the fifth seat, given the precarious situation where neither the RJD-led Mahagatbandhan nor the NDA has sufficient numbers to win the fifth Rajya Sabha seat on its own.</p>.Election Commission sets March 16 for biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats.<p>To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs to have the support of at least 41 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. With 202 seats under its kitty, the NDA can easily romp home on four seats, with the JD (U) and the BJP staking claim on two seats each. The NDA, after wresting these four seats, will still be left with 38 surplus votes, which is three short of 41.</p><p>The Mahagatbandhan, which got a severe drubbing in the November 2025 Bihar Assembly election, has just 35 members, including the 25 RJD MLAs. This is six short of the requisite strength of 41.</p><p><strong>Olive branch</strong></p><p>Against this backdrop, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and working president of the RJD, Tejashwi Yadav, has reportedly opened backroom channels with the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and sent his aide to hold parleys with him seeking support for the Rajya Sabha election.</p><p>Notably, AIMIM won five seats in Bihar in November last, mostly in the Muslim-dominated constituencies in Seemanchal area of Bihar in the eastern part of the State which shares its border with Bengal and Nepal.</p><p>Besides the five MLAs of the AIMIM, Tejashwi is also eyeing the lone BSP MLA and has reportedly dispatched an aide to Mayawati seeking her support for the Mahagatbandhan nominee, the name for which is yet to be announced.</p><p>With both the NDA and Mahagatbandhan soliciting AIMIM support for the much-needed numbers for the RS poll, the AIMIM is driving a hard bargain. “Are we there only to help others win a Rajya Sabha election? Why can’t AIMIM throw its hat in the RS ring. All those ‘secular parties’, who claim to be fighting the BJP-led alliance, should back the AIMIM when it announces its candidate for the RS election,” said Bihar AIMIM president and party MLA Akhtarul Iman.</p><p>The BSP, which has mostly backed the ruling alliance, is also keeping its cards close to its chest, thereby making the suspense more intense.</p>
<p>Patna: After the Bihar Assembly elections, all eyes are now on Rajya Sabha elections in the State, slated for March 16. </p><p>Out of five seats from Bihar falling vacant in April, there is no suspense over four being all set to be wrested by the NDA, given the strength of the JD (U)-led alliance in the Assembly. </p><p>The suspense, however, remains over the fifth seat, given the precarious situation where neither the RJD-led Mahagatbandhan nor the NDA has sufficient numbers to win the fifth Rajya Sabha seat on its own.</p>.Election Commission sets March 16 for biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats.<p>To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs to have the support of at least 41 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. With 202 seats under its kitty, the NDA can easily romp home on four seats, with the JD (U) and the BJP staking claim on two seats each. The NDA, after wresting these four seats, will still be left with 38 surplus votes, which is three short of 41.</p><p>The Mahagatbandhan, which got a severe drubbing in the November 2025 Bihar Assembly election, has just 35 members, including the 25 RJD MLAs. This is six short of the requisite strength of 41.</p><p><strong>Olive branch</strong></p><p>Against this backdrop, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and working president of the RJD, Tejashwi Yadav, has reportedly opened backroom channels with the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and sent his aide to hold parleys with him seeking support for the Rajya Sabha election.</p><p>Notably, AIMIM won five seats in Bihar in November last, mostly in the Muslim-dominated constituencies in Seemanchal area of Bihar in the eastern part of the State which shares its border with Bengal and Nepal.</p><p>Besides the five MLAs of the AIMIM, Tejashwi is also eyeing the lone BSP MLA and has reportedly dispatched an aide to Mayawati seeking her support for the Mahagatbandhan nominee, the name for which is yet to be announced.</p><p>With both the NDA and Mahagatbandhan soliciting AIMIM support for the much-needed numbers for the RS poll, the AIMIM is driving a hard bargain. “Are we there only to help others win a Rajya Sabha election? Why can’t AIMIM throw its hat in the RS ring. All those ‘secular parties’, who claim to be fighting the BJP-led alliance, should back the AIMIM when it announces its candidate for the RS election,” said Bihar AIMIM president and party MLA Akhtarul Iman.</p><p>The BSP, which has mostly backed the ruling alliance, is also keeping its cards close to its chest, thereby making the suspense more intense.</p>