Patna, March 5 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP president Nitin Nabin were among five NDA candidates who filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections on Thursday.
They filed the papers in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the office of Assembly Secretary Khyati Singh.
The other NDA candidates who filed their nominations are BJP state general secretary Shivesh Kumar, JD(U)'s Ram Nath Thakur, and RLM's Upendra Kushwaha.
Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were present when the nominations were filed.
Elections have been announced for five Rajya Sabha seats from the state. According to the figures in the state legislature, it is certain that the NDA candidates will be elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
Although the RJD does not have the numbers, its outgoing MP Amarendra Dhari Singh also filed nomination papers.
41 MLAs' first preference votes are needed to win a Rajya Sabha seat. Currently, the NDA has 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with the BJP at 89 and the JD(U) at 85.
Kumar will go to the Rajya Sabha in place of JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh, whose tenure is ending. The tenure of RJD's Prem Chand Gupta will also end.
For Nabin, who was appointed the BJP president earlier this year, this will be his first stint in Parliament. He has been a member of the assembly since 2006.
Kumar announced his decision to enter the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, bringing to an end his 20-year tenure as the longest-serving CM of the state.
