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News India Live, Digital Desk: The elections for 5 Rajya Sabha seats have intensified the stir in Bihar politics. 9 April 2026 The tenure of five Rajya Sabha MPs from Bihar is ending, in which two veterans of Janata Dal United (JDU) are the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Harivansh Narayan Singh and Union Minister Ramnath Thakur Are included. Now the biggest question is who will Chief Minister Nitish Kumar give a second chance.
Who will get the ticket? Main contenders and equations
| contender | current situation | possibility of restructuring | main reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramnath Thakur | Rajya Sabha MP and Union Minister | High | The legacy of Karpoori Thakur and the ‘Extremely Backward’ (EBC) vote bank. |
| Harivansh Narayan Singh | Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman | Low | Has served two terms; ‘Changing political equations’ with Nitish Kumar. |
| Manish Verma | National General Secretary (JDU) | Strong | Former IAS officer and ‘trusted’ strategist of Nitish Kumar. |
1. Ramnath Thakur: Legacy and Social Engineering
Ramnath Thakur, son of Bharat Ratna Karpuri Thakur, is most likely to be sent again.
EBC Politics: Most backward castes have great importance in Nitish Kumar’s social engineering. Repeating Ramnath Thakur will give a big political message to this community.
Special status: Although there is less tradition in JDU of sending him to Rajya Sabha for the third time, but Ramnath Thakur is being considered as a ‘special case’.
2. Harivansh Narayan Singh: Shaking equation?
The path looks difficult this time for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh.
Distance from party: When Nitish left NDA in 2022, Harivansh continued to hold the post of Deputy Chairman against the party’s stand, which soured relations.
Demand for new faces: A section within the party wants that a new and active leader should now be given a chance.
3. Manish Verma: Preparing for ‘surprise’ entry
Former IAS officer very close to Nitish Kumar Manish Verma The name of is leading for the second seat.
He is currently the National General Secretary of the party and has strengthened his hold in the organization. He is considered to be Nitish’s new ‘troubleshooter’ after RCP Singh.
Other vacant seats of Bihar (Term ending April 2026)
Elections are to be held on a total of 5 seats in Bihar, details of which are as follows:
Ramnath Thakur (JDU)
Harivansh Narayan Singh (JDU)
Prem Chand Gupta (RJD)
eddie singh (RJD)
Upendra Kushwaha (RLM)
NDA status: Due to majority in the Assembly, NDA (BJP+JDU) can easily win 4 out of these 5 seats. There may be a tussle between BJP and its allies for the fifth seat.