Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar on Monday, CM Nitish Kumar, BJP chief in fray

Rajya Sabha polls will be conducted in Bihar, as Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin are in fray.

Voting for five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, with five nominees from the ruling NDA and one from the opposition RJD contesting the biennial polls will take place on Monday.

The other three nominees from the ruling coalition are Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, 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.

With numbers comfortably in favour of the NDA for four seats and marginally short for the fifth, the Opposition forced an election by fielding RJD’s Amarendra Dhari Singh.

The NDA aims to win all five seats but needs support from three legislators from the opposition bench to achieve that.

The RJD-led Grand Alliance, meanwhile, is trying to ensure the victory of its lone candidate, who is seeking re-election. The party is banking heavily on the support of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has five MLAs.

The AIMIM announced on Sunday that all five of its MLAs would support the RJD’s candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.

The Grand Alliance kept its MLAs at a hotel in the state capital to prevent alleged poaching by rivals.

However, the NDA organised meetings with its legislators at the residences of ministers and senior leaders in the state's capital on Sunday.

The NDA enjoys a brute majority in the assembly, though its tally of 202 in the 243-member House falls three short of the number needed to secure all five Rajya Sabha seats.

MLAs will cast their ballots at a polling station set up inside the Bihar Assembly complex. Voting will be held from 9 am to 5 pm, and counting will begin after 5 pm.

Results are expected to be announced on the same day.

An official said all the necessary security arrangements have been made.

(With agency inputs)