Nine elected unopposed to Bihar legislative council

Nine candidates including Bihar Education Minister P.K. Shahi and Congress state president Ashok Choudhary were Thursday elected unopposed to the state legislative council after the deadline for withdrawing nominations expired, an official said.

Phool Jha, an official of the state assembly, said that all nine candidates in the fray - five from the ruling Janata Dal-United, three from opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and one from Congress - were declared elected unopposed.

The elected JD-U candidates are Shahi, Satish Kumar, Hira Prasad Bind, Haroon Rashid and Sonelal Mehta, while those of the Bharatiya Janata Party are Sanjay Prasad Mayunkh, Surajmandan Mehta and Krishna Kumar.

"All nine have been declared elected after the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers ended at 4 p.m. In the absence of other candidates, there will be no formal election," said Jha.