Upendra Kushwaha Likely to be Nominated for Rajya Sabha from Bihar
Potential Nomination of Upendra Kushwaha
Former Union Minister and leader of the National Lok Morcha, Upendra Kushwaha, is expected to be nominated for the Rajya Sabha from Bihar following discussions with senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) late at night. Kushwaha met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President Nitin Nabin, where they deliberated on the vacant Rajya Sabha seat and the evolving political landscape in Bihar. Sources indicate that the meeting was fruitful, and Kushwaha's nomination is being seriously considered as part of the BJP-led coalition's strategy. Given the strong majority in the 243-member assembly, the ruling NDA is poised to secure four out of five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, while the opposition Grand Alliance is expected to win one seat.
Rajya Sabha Elections Announcement
The Election Commission announced on Wednesday that biennial elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats will take place on March 16. These seats will become vacant on various dates in April. The elections will be held across ten states: Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar. The necessity for these elections arises from the retirement of current Rajya Sabha members this year. Maharashtra has the highest number of vacancies with seven seats, followed by Tamil Nadu with six, and both West Bengal and Bihar with six seats each. Odisha will see four seats vacated, while Assam will have elections for three seats. Chhattisgarh and Haryana will each have two seats, and Telangana will have the same number. One seat will be contested in Himachal Pradesh.
Retiring Members from Rajya Sabha
Several members are set to retire from the Rajya Sabha, including Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP), Harivansh Narayan Singh (JD-U), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), Ramnath Thakur (JD-U), Ramdas Athawale (RPI-A), Kiran Chaudhary (BJP), KTS Tulsi (Congress), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Upendra Kushwaha (RLM), Saket Gokhale (TMC), Ritabrata Banerjee (TMC), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Tiruchi Shiva (DMK), GK Vasan (TMC-M), and M Thambidurai (AIADMK).