Patna, February 28 Janshakti Janata Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav said on Saturday that his party would contest the upcoming elections for several seats in the Bihar Legislative Council.
The terms of the four incumbent members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) from graduate constituencies and four from teacher constituencies will end on November 16.
Speaking to reporters in Vaishali, Yadav said, "Yes, our party will contest the upcoming election for certain MLC seats."
Yadav was expelled from the RJD on May 25 by his father Lalu Prasad for six years, a day after he reportedly confessed to being "in a relationship" with a woman named Anushka in a social media post, which he later deleted, claiming that his account had been "hacked".
Lalu Prasad had also disowned him citing "irresponsible behaviour".
There are reports that elections to the four teacher and four graduate constituencies may be held in September or October, as the terms of the incumbent MLCs from those seats end in mid-November.
The graduate constituencies going to polls include Patna, Tirhut, Darbhanga, and Kosi. The teacher constituencies include Patna, Tirhut, and Darbhanga.
The total number of voters in the four graduate constituencies is 4,84,943, while 45,660 voters are registered in the four teacher constituencies.
Among those whose terms end this November are JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar from the Patna graduate seat, Sarvesh Kumar from the Darbhanga graduate seat, Banshi Dhar Brajwasi from the Tirhut graduate seat, Dr N K Yadav from the Kosi graduate seat, BJP's Nawal Kishore Yadav from the Patna teacher seat, Congress leader and former state president Dr Madan Mohan Jha from the Darbhanga teacher seat, and Sanjay Kumar Singh from the Tirhut teacher seat.
The Bihar Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral state legislature and has 75 members. The term of an MLC is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years.
One-third of the members are elected by MLAs, another one-third by local bodies such as municipal and district boards, one-twelfth by teachers with at least three years of service, and one-twelfth by graduates residing in the state for at least three years.
The remaining members are nominated by the Governor from among persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, the cooperative movement, and social service.