JD-U yet to finalise candidate for RS poll

Patna, May 29 With just two days left for the nomination for Rajya Sabha, Janata Dal-United is yet to finalise its candidate.

Party national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, and JD-U parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha called a presser at the party head office in Patna on Sunday at 4 p.m. but did not announce the name of the candidate.

Singh and Kushwaha discussed the matter, and then Lalan Singh went to the Chief Minister's residence but did not declare the candidate's name.

When asked, Lalan Singh said: "I am not aware of the name of the candidate for Rajya Sabha, so how could I tell you (Media persons). We will let you know as soon as a decision is made."

Sources have said that sidelining R.C.P. Singh is turning out to be a tough affair for JD-U leaders. The party leaders have unanimously given the power to CM Nitish Kumar to decide the matter. Whatever decision he makes, every one will accept it. Nitish Kumar has also not made up his mind whether to drop R.C.P. Singh or send someone else to the Rajya Sabha.

The source further said that majority of the leaders including CM Nitish Kumar, Lalan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha do not want to send R.C.P. Singh to the Rajya Sabha.

During the meeting, Neeraj Kumar, the MLC and chief spokesperson of the JD-U said that whoever will be the candidate of JD-U, he must be a "Damdaar, Shandaar and Jandaar" leader. But when asked about the name, he did not answer."

Sources, however, have said that R.C.P. Singh is still the front runner of the ticket for Rajya Sabha.

At one point, R.C.P. Singh was considered the top leader after Nitish Kumar in the JD-U. After the second expansion of the Cabinet of the Central government last year, Nitish Kumar had authorised Singh to bargain with the BJP and demand two Cabinet and two state Ministry portfolios for the party, but that did not happen.

For the Rajya Sabha poll, Bihar has 5 seats and as per the strength of the BJP, RJD and JD-U, the first two parties will get two seats, while JD-U can get one.

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