Nitish Kumar heads to Rajya Sabha as NDA sweeps Bihar polls amid Opposition ‘betrayal’ | India Information
3 min learnPatnaUp to date: Mar 16, 2026 08:16 PM IST
Three Congress MLAs and one RJD MLA abstained from voting for Bihar’s fifth Rajya Sabha seat, serving to the NDA sweep the polls. The event has prompted the Mahagathbandhan to accuse the ruling NDA of “influencing and threatening” its MLAs.
The mixed Opposition, which required 41 votes, had fielded outgoing RJD Rajya Sabha MP AD Singh in opposition to the BJP’s fifth candidate, Shivesh Ram.
Regardless of securing the help of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (5 MLAs) and the Bahujan Samaj Occasion (one MLA) on the eleventh hour, the RJD and Congress did not preserve their flock collectively. As BJP’s Shivesh Ram secured 30 first-preference votes in opposition to RJD’s AD Singh’s 37, second-preference votes needed to be counted.
Second-preference voting is required when no candidate secures the required variety of votes.
Shivesh Ram gained by a convincing margin after the second-preference votes had been counted.
From a broader perspective, the Rajya Sabha ballot will go down as a landmark due to Nitish Kumar’s nomination to the Higher Home, signalling the top of the tenure of Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister. The ballot was additionally important because it despatched the nationwide presidents of three events to the Rajya Sabha. Moreover JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, BJP nationwide president Nitin Nabin and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha had been additionally nominated to the Higher Home.
All 202 NDA MLAs forged their votes. Every Rajya Sabha candidate required 41 votes. Whereas the NDA ensured straightforward victories for its 4 candidates — Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ramnath Thakur, Nabin and Kushwaha — its spare 38 votes additionally ensured the victory of its fifth candidate, Shivesh Ram.
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The three Congress MLAs who abstained had been Forbesganj MLA Manoj Vishwas, Valmiki Nagar MLA Surendra Kushwaha and Manihari MLA Mamohar Prasad, together with RJD’s Dhaka MLA Faisal Rahman. They remained out of bounds all through the day, preserving their cell phones switched off. Whereas there have been fears inside the Congress that every one six of its MLAs may cross-vote, the RJD was shocked that its Dhaka MLA too abstained.
Quickly after the outcomes had been introduced, Mahagathbandhan leaders accused the ruling NDA of “influencing and threatening” 4 Opposition MLAs. BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi dismissed the cost, saying the Opposition didn’t have the numbers to win.
“We swept the polls as we had numbers,” he mentioned.
“4 MLAs betrayed us,” RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav mentioned. “Strict motion can be taken in opposition to them.”
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