JD(U) renominates Sharad, RCP to RS; drops Tyagi and Pawan

JD(U) renominates Sharad, RCP to RS Drops Tyagi, Pawan; Denies Fresh Term To All 4 Retiring MLCs
Sanjay.Ojha
Patna: The Bihar CM Nitish KUmar-led JD (U) has renominated former party president Sharad Yadav and bureaucrat-turned-neta R C P Singh to the Rajya Sabha while dropping party general secretary K C Tyagi and diplomat-turned-party spokesman Pawan Kumar Varma.
The election to five RS seats from Bihar and seven state legislative council seats falling vacant in July this year, is slated to be held on June 10 and 11 respectively. The retiring legislators include five RS members and four MLCs of the JD (U).
While Singh is known for his proximity with Nitish since his IAS days in UP, Tyagi and Varma have been among the most well-known faces handling the party’s PR through the media.
However, JD (U)’s fifth outgoing RS member Gulam Rasool Balyawi has been “accommodated”, albeit with a “demotion”. He has been nominated as a candidate for the legislative council election. Former Kisan Aayog chairman C P Sinha will be the party’s other candudate for the council.
The candidates were announced by state JD (U) president Bashishtha Narain Singh on Thursday.
With only 71 MLAs in the legislative assembly post 2015 election, the JD (U) can elect only two MLCs as at least 31 votes are required for every candidate’s win. In case of RS where every candidate needs at least 41 votes to win, the JD (U) will need support of 11 MLAs from outside the party fold to ensure the victory of its two candidates.
The four JD (U) MLCs denied a fresh term are Uday Kant Chaudhary, Rudal Roy, Vijay Kumar Verma and Manzar Alam. However, denial of MLC ticket to former assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary has surprised observers. Considered a confidant of Nitish for over a decade during which he was the Speaker, Chaudhary was trounced by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi from Imamganj in Gaya district in the 2015 assembly election.