Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United supremo, will file nomination for Rajya Sabha on Thursday, HT has learnt. As a result, Nitish Kumar will be vacated from the Bihar CM seat.
Voting for five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar is scheduled to take place on March 16.
The elections have entailed the final terms of Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U), Prem Chand Gupta of the RJD, Amarendra Dhari Singh and Upendra Kushwaha of the RLM.
With Nitish Kumar likely to step down months after leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance to a landslide victory in the 2025 Assembly elections, the BJP leader is expected to take over the top job. Samrat Chaudhary and Nityanand Rai are the likely contenders in the race, according to people familiar with the matter.
If the above happens, Bihar will have its first BJP chief minister, the only Indian state where the party has not held the position yet.
According to the latest tally in the state legislature, all five seats will now go to the ruling NDA party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), part of the ruling NDA in Bihar, on Tuesday announced nine candidates for the biennial 2026 Rajya Sabha elections across six states.
At least three states – Maharashtra, Bihar and Odisha – are likely to witness a contest.
From Bihar, where five seats fell vacant, the BJP fielded party president Nitin Nabin and state leader Shivish Kumar. Separately, the JD(U) minister said that Nishant Kumar, son of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is about to enter politics.
An earlier HT report quoted Minister Sharwan Kumar as saying: “He will be given greater responsibility in the party. The responsibility he will get will be decided in a day or two.” Asked if Nishant could be sent to the Rajya Sabha, Kumar said: “Anything can happen.”
Thursday is the last date to submit nominations for the March 16 elections.
