Polls for 10 council seats to be held in Bihar on June 18

Patna: Elections for 10 Bihar legislative council seats will be held on June 18 with political activity intensifying within the NDA over seat-sharing and probable candidates.Nine seats carry a full six-year term, while one byelection will be held for the seat vacated by former CM Nitish Kumar after his election to the Rajya Sabha. Nitish’s council tenure was scheduled to continue till May 6, 2030.According to the Election Commission notification issued on Tuesday, nominations will begin on June 1 and continue till June 8. Scrutiny will take place on June 9, while June 11 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature.Among the likely NDA candidates are Nishant Kumar, son of JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, and Deepak Prakash, son of Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha. Both are ministers in the NDA govt headed by chief minister Samrat Choudhary but are not members of either House. Under constitutional provisions, they must get elected to either the assembly or the council within six months of taking oath as ministers.HAM(S) patron and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi met Samrat on Tuesday and sought one seat for his party. “We have always remained dedicated to the alliance, and we will continue to be so,” said the Gaya MP.Of the 10 seats going to polls, four were previously held by JD(U) and two by BJP. BJP is expected to push for an additional seat this time. One seat each is also likely to go to NDA allies Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.The opposition RJD, with support from alliance partners, is expected to secure only one seat despite two of its members retiring. Congress is also losing one retiring member.In the 243-member legislative assembly, BJP has 88 MLAs, JD(U) 85, RJD 25, LJP (Ram Vilas) 19, Congress 6, AIMIM 5, HAM(S) 5, RLM 4, CPI(ML) 2, CPI, BSP and IIP 1 each. The Bankipur seat is vacant.BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi said the NDA would soon announce candidates. BJP may field new faces considering caste arithmetic as CM Samrat and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha (Kushwaha by caste) are now MLAs and Sanjay Mayukh, an upper caste Kayashtha, is the probable candidate for the Bankipur assembly seat vacated by BJP national president Nitin Nabin after his election to the Rajya Sabha.JD(U) is also expected to field new faces, including Nishant. Incumbent MLCs Ghulam Ghaus, Kumud Verma and Bhisham Sahni are unlikely to be renominated. The party is to strike a caste balance among EBC, Muslim and Dalit communities while finalising names.