9 council candidates file papers, set to be elected unopposed

Patna: All nine candidates who filed nomination papers on Monday for the biennial election to the Bihar legislative council are set to enter the Upper House unopposed, as the number of candidates exactly matches the nine vacancies from the assembly quota, making polling unnecessary.

Monday was the final day for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on Tuesday while June 11 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. If all nominations are found valid and no candidate withdraws, all nine will be declared elected unopposed in accordance with election rules, assembly officials said.

The candidates filed their papers before returning officer Chhote Paswan at the Vidhan Sabha secretariat. CM Samrat Choudhary, Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha and several NDA functionaries were present during the nomination process.

Alongside the biennial election, a byelection is also being held for the council seat vacated by former CM Nitish Kumar. JD(U) candidate Lalan Prasad filed his nomination on Monday. As the sole candidate for the seat, he too is set to be declared elected unopposed on June 11, subject to clearance of his nomination during scrutiny.

For the nine full-term seats, the BJP, JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas), the principal constituents of the ruling NDA in Bihar, fielded eight candidates, relying on their combined strength of 202 members in the 243-member assembly. The opposition Mahagathbandhan fielded only one candidate, sitting member Sunil Kumar Singh of the RJD, ensuring there would be no contest.

The BJP nominated four candidates, including Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, whose nomination drew a large crowd to the Vidhan Sabha premises. The party also fielded national media co-incharge Sanjay Mayukh, who is poised to return to the council for a third consecutive term. Grassroots workers Anil Kumar Thakur and Sheela Pandit were also rewarded with nominations.

The JD(U) fielded health minister Nishant Kumar, the son of former CM Nitish Kumar, along with Bharti Mehta and Shivrani Devi Prajapati, both from the extremely backward class category.

Ashraf Ansari, state spokesperson of the LJP (Ram Vilas), completed the NDA’s list of nominees.

The NDA, however, did not accommodate ally Rashtriya Lok Morcha. The coalition denied a ticket to minister Deepak Prakash, son of party chief Upendra Kushwaha, a council berth that would have enabled him to continue in the state cabinet.