Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in pursuit of reelection to the state legislative council, is scheduled to submit his nomination papers today, as disclosed by a senior JD(U) official. Leading the JD(U), Kumar is vying for a fourth consecutive term in the Upper House, where he initially secured a seat in 2006, a few months after assuming the role of chief minister.
Although the current term of the JD(U) president concludes in May, the Election Commission recently declared biennial polls for 11 seats of the Bihar Vidhan Parishad, including the one held by the chief minister. Out of the 11 seats, the JD(U) previously occupied four, the highest among all parties. However, due to its reduced representation in the assembly, the party is relinquishing two seats to its ally, the BJP, which has witnessed a surge in its numerical strength.
JD(U) officials indicated that incumbent MLC Khalid Anwar is expected to be considered for reelection to a second consecutive term. The BJP is yet to announce its candidates, though Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who is also the party's state president, said, We will contest four seats and leave one for our partner Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM).
HAM is helmed by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose son Santosh Suman is a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet and happens to be among those whose legislative council term ends in two months. In 2018, Suman had won the seat with help from the HAM's then ally RJD.
Two of the seats, for which elections are due, were held by the RJD's Rabri Devi, a former chief minister and at present the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, and Ram Chandra Purve, who is the deputy chairman of the the Upper House.