Upendra Kushwaha to File Nomination for Rajya Sabha By-Poll

Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha announced his intention to file nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-poll in Bihar. His party, Rashtriya Lok Morcha, part of the NDA, is allotted a Rajya Sabha seat according to the seat-sharing formula. Kushwaha had previously contested the Karakat seat but lost.

Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, an ally of the NDA in Bihar, declared on Monday that he will be filing his nomination papers later this week for the Rajya Sabha by-poll.

Kushwaha, who leads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, announced on X that he has rescheduled his nomination filing to August 21, postponing it by a day.

By-polls are scheduled for two Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, left vacant after BJP's Vivek Thakur and RJD's Misa Bharti were elected to the Lok Sabha.

According to the NDA's seat-sharing agreement for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar, Kushwaha's party is to obtain a seat in Parliament and another position in the state legislative council.

The Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief had contested the Karakat seat, winning it for the NDA in 2014 but came in third place behind CPI(ML)'s Raja Ram Kushwaha and Independent candidate Pawan Singh.

Singh, a popular Bhojpuri actor expelled from the BJP for opposing an NDA candidate, was blamed for Kushwaha's defeat, which also hindered the party's outreach to backward classes.

The deadline for filing nomination papers for the two seats is August 21. Neither the NDA has announced a candidate for the second seat, nor has the INDIA bloc, led by the RJD in Bihar, disclosed its candidates for the by-polls.

(With inputs from agencies.)