Patna: The biennial elections for the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state have entered an interesting phase as, 48 hours ahead of the polling day on March 16, pressure appears to have mounted on the NDA partners, especially the BJP, JD(U) and RLM, to keep the NDA fold of 202 MLAs intact and insulated from any sign of desertion.The NDA MLAs had already held a meeting at the residence of deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary on Thursday, ostensibly to inform and train newly elected NDA MLAs about the Rajya Sabha election. Earlier this week, Samrat had also met Union home minister Amit Shah at Bagdogra in West Bengal.Two more such meetings are scheduled — one on Saturday at the residence of RLM chief and sitting Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha, who is the BJP’s third candidate in the fray, and another at the residence of JD(U) senior leader and parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary on the following day. Meanwhile, a directive has been issued to all NDA MLAs to remain present in Patna on both days.Among the five outgoing Rajya Sabha members from the state are two each from JD(U) and the rival grand alliance’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), besides Kushwaha himself. Technically, since the victory of a candidate requires the support of 41 MLAs, the BJP with 89 MLAs and JD(U) with 85 could easily ensure the victory of four candidates from their side. However, the BJP also fielded a third candidate in the form of Kushwaha, which has effectively forced a contest instead of the usual unanimous election. The sixth candidate is the RJD’s sitting member Amarendra Dhari Singh.Kushwaha’s victory is believed to depend on the influence of CM Nitish Kumar to keep JD(U) MLAs united and also on the mobilisation capacity of Samrat, as the RLM nominee requires three votes from outside the NDA fold for victory through cross voting.On Friday, BJP MLA Mithilesh Tiwari and party spokesman Prem Ranjan Patel claimed that all five NDA candidates would win. On the other hand, JD(U) minister Ashok Choudhary said on Thursday that the NDA in fact had the support of 12 MLAs from the grand alliance.“All I can say is that we have the number. Our (NDA’s) chemistry is strong, and our arithmetic, too, is right. All the five NDA candidates will win,” RLM MLA Madhav Anand told reporters.
