All Rajya Sabha nominees from Bihar elected unopposed

With time for withdrawal of nominations over, all five Rajya Sabha candidates from Bihar, including former JD-U President Sharad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, have been elected unopposed, an official said on Friday.

Likewise, seven candidates of the Grand Alliance -- consisting of the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress -- and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been elected unopposed to the Bihar legislative council.

"With last date of withdrawal of nominations over, all five candidates from ruling Grand Alliance and opposition BJP were elected unopposed and seven candidates were elected unopposed to the Bihar legislative council," the official said.

Last week, the JD-U re-nominated Sharad Yadav to the upper house of parliament besides R.C. Singh, considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

JD-U leader Sharad Yadav is a sitting Rajya Sabha member from Bihar.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad nominated his daughter Misa Bharti and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani as his party's candidates for the Rajya Sabha.

Jethmalani joined the RJD last Sunday during his visit to Lalu's residence here.

The BJP nominated senior party leader Gopal Narain Singh, inviting criticism as the candidate is facing 28 criminal cases.

All five Rajya Sabha candidates from Bihar were assured of making it to the upper house as there was no sixth candidate in the fray.

The term of five outgoing Rajya Sabha members from Bihar -- Sharad Yadav, K.C. Tyagi, Pavan Kumar Varma, Gulam Rasool Balyawi and Ramchandra Prasad Singh -- will expire in July.

The seven candidates elected unopposed to the Bihar legislative council include the JD-U's Ghulam Rasool Balyavi, C.P. Sinha, Ran Vijay Singh and Qamar Alam of RJD and Tanveen Akhtar of Congress.

The BJP's Vinod Narain Jha and Arjun Sahni have also been elected unopposed to the council.

--IANS

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