Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) president and Union minister for consumer affairs and public distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan, filed his nomination paper for the one Rajya Sabha seat going to by poll in Bihar.
Paswan, as a candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is certain to win the seat riding on NDA’s near dominance in Bihar Assembly.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar BJP president and Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, road construction minister Nand Kishor Yadav and a host of other leaders were present on the occasion.
It remains to be seen if anyone from the Opposition files nomination– the last date is June 25.
If nobody does, Paswan will be declared elected unopposed after the end of period for withdrawal of nomination and scrutiny of papers — scheduled for June 26.
Paswan’s nomination event was not without incident as security personnel had to clear the area around the returning officer after chief minister Nitish Kumar objected to cameramen leaning over his chair to take pictures.
One of the most prominent Dalit leaders in the country, Paswan won the Bihar assembly election for the first time in 1969 and was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times since his first win in 1977. He was also sent to Rajya Sabha once before in 2010.
Earlier, there was speculation that Paswan, who did not contest the Lok Sabha election from his traditional Hajipur seat this time, could be sent to Rajya Sabha from Assam. However, insiders in LJP said that Paswan wanted to be fielded from Bihar and the circumstances worked to his favour.
Though Bihar did not have a vacancy in Rajya Sabha, the victory of Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad created one. Prasad had just completed one year of his fourth term in the Rajya Sabha before his maiden entry to the Lok Sabha.
This means, Paswan will be member of the Rajya Sabha for close to five years. Prasad was elected to Rajya Sabha in March, 2018.
First Published:
Jun 21, 2019 19:49 IST
Source: HindustanTimes