Upendra Kushwaha to file nomination papers for Rajya Sabha by-poll on Aug 21

Patna, Aug 19 (PTI) Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, an NDA ally in Bihar, announced on Monday that he will be filing nomination papers later this week for the Rajya Sabha by-poll.

Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, made the announcement on X, disclosing that he has deferred to August 21 filing nomination papers which he had planned for a day earlier.

Notably, by-polls are due for two Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar which have fallen vacant upon election to the Lok Sabha of BJP's Vivek Thakur and RJD's Misa Bharti.

As per the NDA's seat-sharing formula for Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls, Kushwaha's party was to get a seat in Parliament and another berth in the state legislative council.

The Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief contested the Karakat seat, which he had won for the NDA in 2014, but finished third behind Raja Ram Kushwaha of CPI(ML), who won, and Pawan Singh (Independent) who was the runner-up.

Singh, a Bhojpuri superstar who got expelled from the BJP for contesting against an NDA candidate, was squarely blamed for the defeat of Kushwaha, whose defeat also threw a spanner in the party's plans to reach out to backward classes in a big way.

Incidentally, the filing of nomination papers for the two seats will come to a close on August 21. Neither the NDA has, so far, named a candidate for the second seat nor the INDIA bloc, helmed in Bihar by the RJD, has revealed its cards for the by-polls. PTI NAC SOM