NDA wins 9 of 10 Bihar MLC seats unopposed; Nitish Kumar's son Nishant, Pawan Singh elected

All 10 candidates contesting the Bihar Legislative Council elections, including one by-election seat, were elected unopposed on Thursday after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations expired. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured nine of the 10 seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won the remaining seat. The NDA's tally included four seats each for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United), along with one seat for the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

Among the prominent winners were Nishant Kumar, son of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh. The newly elected JD(U) members are Nishant Kumar, Bharti Mehta, Shivani Devi Prajapati and Lalan Prasad. Lalan Prasad was elected in the by-election held for the seat that fell vacant after Nitish Kumar moved to the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP's successful candidates were Pawan Singh, Sanjay Prakash Mayukh, Anil Thakur and Sheila Pandit. Ashraf Ansari of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Sunil Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal were also elected to the Legislative Council. The elections were held for nine regular biennial vacancies and one by-election seat.

The terms of the nine outgoing Legislative Council members are scheduled to expire on June 28, necessitating the biennial election process. With no remaining contest after the withdrawal deadline, all candidates were formally declared elected unopposed.

Meanwhile, Deepak Prakash, son of Rashtriya Lok Morcha leader Upendra Kushwaha, did not secure a Legislative Council nomination after the NDA did not field him as a candidate. According to sources, discussions had taken place regarding a possible merger of Kushwaha's party with the BJP, but Kushwaha declined to merge his party while continuing within the NDA alliance. Deepak Prakash's six-month constitutional period as a minister is set to expire in November.