Patna: A day ahead of the biennial elections to five Rajya Sabha seats from the state scheduled for March 16, political circles here were abuzz on Sunday with speculation that the BJP may have altered its strategy by placing its second official candidate Shivesh Ram behind party president Nitin Nabin and RLM nominee Upendra Kushwaha. By that calculation, Ram would effectively become the fifth NDA nominee in the fray.When the BJP first announced its candidates earlier this month, Nabin was placed first, Ram second and Kushwaha, a sitting Rajya Sabha member, third. The two JD(U) nominees are CM Nitish Kumar and Union minister-cum-sitting Rajya Sabha member Ram Nath Thakur. The sixth candidate is sitting Rajya Sabha member Amarendra Dhari Singh of the RJD.With 89 MLAs of the BJP and 85 of the JD(U), the victory of four NDA candidates is considered certain. However, the fifth NDA nominee would require support from three MLAs of the opposition through cross voting. Till Saturday, Kushwaha was widely seen as the fifth NDA candidate needing those additional votes, but speculation on Sunday suggested Ram had moved to that position, raising the question of who the fifth candidate actually is.When asked about the issue, Ram said, “No, there is no discrimination against me. The NDA is united. The NDA has 202 MLAs, and all five candidates will win.”On the possibility of AIMIM MLAs voting for the RJD nominee, which could give the opposition the required 41 votes, Ram said, “I appeal to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and even RJD working president Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to ensure that I from the Dalit Ravidas social group enter Rajya Sabha. My victory is ‘pakki (without any doubt)’, and all the NDA candidates will win. Everything will be clear by Monday evening.”The speculation gained momentum when Ram attended an in-camera meeting of the state BJP leadership with Vijay Sharma, Chhattisgarh deputy CM and the party’s central observer for the Rajya Sabha polls.“We are having our meeting, as other NDA partners are also doing it,” industries minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal said. “You all have been saying that the fifth NDA candidate needs three extra votes from outside the NDA, or 205 votes in all, but the actual number is only 203,” he added. The remark suggested that the assembly Speaker and deputy Speaker do not exercise their franchise under the rules. However, state assembly sources said both do cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
