The Election Commission on Monday issued the notification for elections to 10 seats of the Bihar Legislative Council from the Assembly quota. This includes biennial elections for nine seats and a bypoll for one seat. With the issuance of the notification, the process of filing nomination papers by prospective candidates has officially commenced.
Schedule for Filing Nominations
According to the schedule released by the Election Commission, the last date for filing nominations is June 8. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on June 9, while June 11 is the final date for withdrawal of candidature. Polling for both the nine biennial elections and the bypoll will be held on June 18, with results declared on the same day.
Reason for Biennial Elections and Bypoll
The biennial elections have become necessary as the terms of nine sitting Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) are set to expire on June 28. The bypoll is being conducted to fill the vacancy created after former Chief Minister and JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Candidate Requirements and Political Equations
A candidate requires the support of 25 MLAs to secure election to the council. Given its numerical strength of 202 MLAs, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is comfortably placed to win eight of the nine seats being contested through the biennial elections. The remaining seat is expected to go to the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which has 25 MLAs of its own, in addition to the support of its allies. Voting for the bypoll seat will be held separately by NDA legislators.
Details of Vacant Seats
Of the nine seats falling vacant this month, four are currently held by JD(U) members — Ghulam Gaus, Kumud Verma, Bhishma Sahani, and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, who has since become an MLA. Two of the vacant seats belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and were held by Samrat Choudhary, who also became an MLA and is currently the Chief Minister, and Sanjay Prakash alias Sanjay Mayukh. The remaining seats are held by Mohammad Farooq and Sunil Kumar Singh of the RJD and Samir Kumar Singh of the Congress party.
Seat-Sharing Negotiations
While the opposition camp appears to have little difficulty over seat-sharing for the one seat likely to come its way, negotiations within the NDA are expected to attract greater attention. The ruling alliance comprises five parties: BJP with 89 MLAs, JD(U) with 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) with five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) with four.
According to information available in the public domain, the BJP and JD(U) have each staked claim to three of the eight NDA seats, while one seat each is expected to go to the LJP(RV) and RLM. However, leaders of HAM(S) have also been pressing for a share in the allotment.
“The NDA partners are organically united, and we will resolve every issue amicably when we sit together,” JD(U) working president and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha said on Monday.
