look news india
News India Live, Digital Desk: Generally, Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar are decided unopposed on the basis of numbers. But this time the election has become interesting due to the field of candidates by the opposition (RJD). Voting for Rajya Sabha for the last time in Bihar 2014 It happened in 1977, when the fate of stalwarts like Sharad Yadav and Pawan Verma was decided through voting.
6 candidates in the fray, only 5 seats (The Contestants)
The ruling NDA has fielded 5 candidates, while RJD has made the contest interesting by fielding 1 candidate:
| candidate | party/alliance | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Nitish Kumar | JDU (NDA) | Chief Minister, for the first time in Rajya Sabha |
| Nitin Naveen | BJP (NDA) | State President of BJP |
| Ramnath Thakur | JDU (NDA) | Union Minister, preparing for the third time |
| Upendra Kushwaha | RLM (NDA) | Leader of NDA’s ally party |
| Shivesh Kumar | BJP (NDA) | State General Secretary of BJP |
| Amarendra Dhari Singh | RJD (INDIA) | The only candidate of the opposition |
The 12 year old ‘Sharad Yadav’ connection (The 2014 Flashback)
2014 election: At that time, independent candidates had stood against the official candidates of JDU (Pawan Verma and Ghulam Rasool Baliyabi). in that election Sharad Yadav So he was elected unopposed, but voting took place for the remaining seats.
2026 status: In the last 12 years, all the elections were held unopposed, but this time the battle of arithmetic and political supremacy has taken the MLAs to the ballot box.
Mathematics of 5th seat: NDA vs RJD
Minimum for a candidate to win 41 MLAs First preference votes are required:
Strengths of NDA: NDA has a total of 202 MLAs. According to this, they will win 4 seats easily (41 x 4 = 164).
Suspense: NDA will have a surplus of 38 votes. Whereas RJD and opposition have total votes around 35-40.
Screw: NDA for 5th seat Upendra Kushwaha And Shivesh Kumar It is still a matter of suspense as to who will get priority. 6 votes of independents and small parties will prove to be ‘kingmakers’ in this election.
Voting Schedule (Polling Details)
date: 16 March 2026 (Monday).
Time: From 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
place: Bihar Assembly Secretariat.
Result: Counting will begin immediately after polling ends (5:00 PM) and results will be declared by night.