NDA eyes all 5 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, RJD faces uphill task

Patna: After the Election Commission announced the schedule for biennial elections to five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, intense lobbying for tickets began on Wednesday within the ruling NDA while the opposition RJD appears to have limited scope to secure a berth.

Based on the current strength of parties in the Bihar assembly, the Lalu Prasad-led RJD is set to lose both its sitting seats in the Upper House. The NDA, which presently holds three of the five seats, is in a position to win all five if it secures the backing of just three MLAs from smaller parties not aligned with the opposition.


Under the prevailing calculation for Rajya Sabha elections in the state, a candidate requires at least 41 votes to be elected. In the assembly election held in Nov last year, the NDA won 202 seats, while the RJD and its allies — Congress and the Left — were reduced to a combined 35.

If the RJD-led Grand Alliance, with 35 MLAs, manages support from five AIMIM MLAs and the lone BSP MLA, the opposition bloc could reach 41 and potentially win one seat. In that case, the NDA would still be positioned to secure four of the five seats.

Five vacancies from Bihar will arise in the Rajya Sabha on April 9 following the retirement of Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh (both RJD), Union minister Ram Nath Thakur and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh (both JD-U) and Upendra Kushwaha of the RLM.

As per the Election Commission notification, polling for the five seats will be held on March 16. The notification will be issued on Feb 26 and the last date for filing nominations is March 5. Counting, if required, will take place on the evening of March 16, an hour after voting concludes.

NDA insiders said the JD(U), with 85 MLAs, can comfortably retain its two seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 89 MLAs, is expected to stake claim to two seats. The remaining seat, sources indicated, could go to the LJP (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan.

Within the BJP, sources said the party may field Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh as one of its candidates. The name of Nitin Nabin, the party’s national working president and a sitting Bihar MLA, is also being discussed.

Nabin resigned from the Nitish Kumar cabinet in Dec soon after being appointed to the national post, but continues to represent the Bankipur assembly seat. Observers believe that given his expanded responsibilities, he may opt to vacate the constituency he has represented over multiple terms.

In the JD(U), sources said there is uncertainty over whether the party will repeat its candidates for a third consecutive term. Both sitting JD(U) Rajya Sabha members — Ram Nath Thakur, son of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, and Harivansh — are serving their second consecutive terms.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had earlier denied a third consecutive term to RCP Singh, a former JD(U) national president, a decision that eventually led to Singh’s exit from the Union cabinet. The party had then cited an internal policy of not granting Rajya Sabha berths to the same individual for more than two consecutive terms.

JD(U) functionaries remained guarded on whether an exception could be made this time, as strict adherence would displace two sitting MPs who currently hold significant constitutional positions.

The third NDA-held seat is with Upendra Kushwaha, who entered the Rajya Sabha in 2025 with BJP support in a by-election triggered after Vivek Thakur was elected to the Lok Sabha. Though Kushwaha’s RLM is a smaller ally, NDA sources said he has already received his share, pointing to his son Deepak Prakash being inducted into the state cabinet despite not being a member of the legislature.