Three Congress MLAs and one RJD MLA abstained from voting for Bihar’s fifth Rajya Sabha seat, helping the NDA sweep the polls. The development has prompted the Mahagathbandhan to accuse the ruling NDA of “influencing and threatening” its MLAs.
The combined Opposition, which required 41 votes, had fielded outgoing RJD MP AD Singh against the BJP’s fifth candidate, Shivesh Ram.
Despite securing the support of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (five MLAs) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (one MLA) at the eleventh hour, the RJD and Congress failed to keep their flock together. As BJP’s Shivesh Ram secured 30 first-preference votes against RJD’s AD Singh’s 37, second-preference votes had to be counted.
Second-preference voting is required when no candidate secures the required number of votes.
Shivesh Ram won by a convincing margin after the second-preference votes were counted.
From a broader perspective, the Rajya Sabha poll will go down as a landmark because of ’s nomination to the Upper House, signalling the end of the tenure of Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister. The poll was also significant as it sent the national presidents of three parties to the Rajya Sabha. Besides JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief were also nominated to the Upper House.
All 202 NDA MLAs cast their votes. Each Rajya Sabha candidate required 41 votes. While the NDA ensured easy victories for its four candidates — Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ramnath Thakur, Nabin and Kushwaha — its spare 38 votes also ensured the victory of its fifth candidate, Shivesh Ram.
The three Congress MLAs who abstained were Forbesganj MLA Manoj Vishwas, Valmiki Nagar MLA Surendra Kushwaha and Manihari MLA Mamohar Prasad, along with RJD’s Dhaka MLA Faisal Rahman. They remained out of bounds throughout the day, keeping their mobile phones switched off. While there were fears within the Congress that all six of its MLAs might cross-vote, the RJD was shocked that its Dhaka MLA too abstained.
Soon after the results were announced, Mahagathbandhan leaders accused the ruling NDA of “influencing and threatening” four Opposition MLAs. BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi dismissed the charge, saying the Opposition did not have the numbers to win.
“We swept the polls as we had numbers,” he said.
“Four MLAs betrayed us,” RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said. “Strict action will be taken against them.”
