Patna, 03 March (ABN) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced the names of its national president Niten Nabin and Shyam Rajak's son Shivesh Kumar as candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Bihar. BJP's national general secretary and headquarters in-charge Arun Singh, in a press release, stated that the party has approved a total of 10 candidates, including Niten Nabin and Shivesh Kumar from Bihar, as well as from Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha, and West Bengal. He said that these proposed names have been approved by the party's Central Election Committee.

Niten Nabin has been a four-time MLA from Bihar's Bankipur assembly seat and has also served as a minister in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's government. The BJP Parliamentary Board appointed him as the party's national executive president on 14 December, and in January, he was unanimously elected as the BJP's national president.

Notably, the term of five Rajya Sabha members from Bihar is set to expire in April, including three from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and two from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The members whose terms are expiring include Janta Dal United (JDU) members Hari Vinash Narayan Singh and Ramanath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha, and RJD members Amrendra Dhari Singh and Prem Chand Gupta.

The total number of members in the Bihar Assembly is 243, and to win a Rajya Sabha seat, the support of 41 MLAs is required. Currently, the NDA has the support of 202 MLAs, which would allow it to easily win four seats. On the other hand, the Mahagathbandhan has a total of 35 MLAs, including 25 from the RJD. In the current scenario, the RJD would need the support of five MLAs from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and one MLA from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to achieve victory.

According to the schedule released by the Election Commission of India, the last date for filing nominations is 5 March, and voting will take place on 16 March. The counting of votes will be held immediately after the voting, and the results will be announced on the same day.