Former BJP MP to be NDA's candidate for RS by-poll in Bihar

The NDA on Thursday announced that BJP leader Satish Chandra Dubey would be its candidate for the by-election to a Rajya Sabha seat in Bihar.

The by-poll is necessitated by the death of renowned lawyer and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani.

Dubey, who had represented the Valmiki Nagar in the previous Lok Sabha, will file his nomination papers on Friday, the last date for doing the same, BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said here.

The opposition Grand Alliance is yet to come up with the name of any candidate.

RJD sources said the party may not field anyone since it stands no chance of winning as the BJP, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP have requisite numbers to ensure a certain victory for the NDA candidate.

Jethmalani had got elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 on a ticket of the RJD headed by Lalu Prasad by whom he had been hired as a lawyer in fodder scam cases.

The eminent lawyer had entered the Parliament from a seat that fell in the quota of JD(U) which had allowed Jethmalani to get elected on an RJD ticket as a goodwill gesture towards its then ally.

BJP candidate Satish Chandra Dubey belongs to a section of upper caste BJP leaders mostly from Brahmin and Bhumihar communities who had openly expressed displeasure during the Lok Sabha elections over very few people from these castes getting tickets from the NDA.

Dubey was also upset over his party conceding Valmiki Nagar to the JD(U) which deprived him of a chance to try to retain the seat for a second term.

At a meeting party president Amit Shah, these BJP leaders had received the assurance that concerns of inadequate representation of these castes will be addressed when polls would be held for Rajya Sabha and the state legislative council.

The state witnessed a Rajya Sabha by-poll earlier this year when Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad resigned his seat upon election to the Lok Sabha from Patna Sahib. However, another Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan was accommodated through the vacant seat.

There were speculations that the JD(U) may insist on fielding its own candidate in the by-election for the seat vacated by Jethmalani's death, the term of which ends in 2022.

However, the alliance partners appear to have agreed upon Dubey's candidature following negotiations.