After sabre-rattling, BJP gives in to JD(U)

Four candidates from Nitish's party and two from BJP file papers in Bihar

BJP candidate Ravi Shankar Prasad files nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi look on, in Patna on Monday. Photo: PTI

After a protracted bout of stiff posturing and sabre-rattling with its coalition partner in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party finally allowed the Janata Dal (United) to stake its claim to the sixth and most contentious seat in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from the State.

Following a week of hectic parleying, JD(U) State president Vashisht Narayan Singh on Monday filed his papers, in the presence of his party leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP.

In all, seven candidates, including four from the JD(U) and two from the BJP, filed their nominations during the day for the six seats from Bihar.

The JD(U) has re-nominated three sitting MPs — Ali Anwar, Mahendra Prasad and Anil Sahni — while the BJP has fielded two stalwarts — its national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, nominated for a fourth time, and party general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan, who contested the 14th Lok Sabha elections from Orissa.

The seventh candidate turned out to be Ashfaq Karim, a general secretary from Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Jan Shakti Party, who is in the fray as “Independent.”

With 35 votes needed to win one seat, the arithmetic is overwhelmingly on the side of the ruling NDA coalition, as the JD(U) and the BJP have between them 209 seats out of the 243 in the Assembly. The Opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Party-Lok Jan Shakti Party combine and the Congress, have barely 28 legislators.

The JD(U)'s strength of 118 legislators will leave 13 surplus votes after the party secures three seats, while the BJP, with 91 legislators, can win two seats and will have a surplus of 21 votes.

The NDA coalition needs just one more vote, from among the six Independents in the Assembly, to snare all the six seats in the State.

After submitting his papers, Mr. Karim claimed he had the support of all 28 Opposition legislators — 22 from the RJD, four from the Congress and one each from the Communist Party of India and his LJP. He said he also enjoyed the support of the JD(U)-BJP alliance.