Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha and Bar Council of India (BCI) president Manan Kumar Mishra on Wednesday filed their nominations as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the by-elections to two Rajya Sabha seats in the Bihar Assembly. The last date for filing nominations is August 21 and both candidates are set to be elected unopposed as the Opposition has not fielded any candidate. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, both Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were also present during the nominations.
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The BJP on Tuesday named senior Supreme Court advocate Mishra as its second Rajya Sabha candidate from Bihar, while Kushwaha’s name had already been announced. Elections for 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats from nine states will be held on September 3. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on August 22. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is August 22. After filing the nomination, Kushwaha said, “I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for making me a candidate. This will help the NDA in the assembly elections next year. The opposition will have no chance and it is now clear that the next government in Bihar will also be of the NDA.”
Mishra thanked the BJP leadership for giving him the opportunity and said he will fulfill whatever responsibility the party gives him. “I will work to strengthen the party and the government. The BJP will get a massive majority in the state elections next year,” he said. Of the two vacant seats, one belongs to the BJP and the other to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as BJP leader Vivek Thakur was elected from Nawada and RJD MP Misa Bharti from Patliputra seat.
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This will be Kushwaha’s second term in the Rajya Sabha. Prior to this, he has been a member of the Lok Sabha, Bihar Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. This will be the first time for Mishra to reach the Rajya Sabha. Manan Mishra thanked the BJP leadership for giving him the opportunity and said that he will fulfill whatever responsibility the party gives him. He said that I will work to strengthen the party and the government. BJP will get a huge majority in the elections to be held in the state next year.
