Rabri Devi, Abdul Bari Siddiqui likely to be RJD candidates for MLC election

PATNA: Bihar’s opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) may field former chief minister Rabri Devi and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui for the biennial election to the state legislative council scheduled to be held on March 21, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The RJD is expected to field three of the five candidates that the opposition’s Grand Alliance coalition can win out of the 11 seats that will be up for grabs. The last date of nomination is March 11.

RJD currently has two of the 11 seats, Rabri Devi and Ram Chandra Purve, that are falling vacant in May.

A senior RJD leader said the party has made up its mind about Rabri Devi and Siddiqui but is weighing its options about the third seat. RJD state president Jagdanand Singh, a former minister known to be close to RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, is among those being considered for the seat. Singh had also mentored Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in his early days in politics.

In the eventuality that Jagdanand Singh is not interested in going to the legislative council, the party is expected to select a nominee from backward or extremely backward classes (EBCs), the party leader cited above said.

A second RJD leader said the five grand alliance candidates will file their nomination papers on the last date for filing nominations, March 11.

Asked about the buzz around his name, Siddiqui said would do as told by the party. “Whatever the party says, I will do. I cannot comment on it further,” he said.

Jagdanand Singh declined to comment, saying that reports that he could be named for the legislative council were all speculation. “I will not comment on such reports,” he said.

There is, however, no clarity on the nominee from the Congress for the one seat currently held by Prem Chandra Mishra.

The CPI-ML (Liberation), a major left ally in the GA, has announced its nominee, Shashi Yadav, or the fifth seat.

The BJP has not announced its candidates for the three seats. The term of three party MLCs, Mangal Pandey, Sanjay Paswan and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain is expiring this May, for which the elections are due.

The JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and Khalid Anwar and HAM(S) president and minister Santosh Kumar Suman have filed their papers. The NDA is set to contest six seats in all.

It is widely expected that the NDA and opposition GA will not force a fight and only 11 candidates will file their nomination papers for the 11 seats. In this case, the 11 candidates will be elected uncontested on March 14, the last date for withdrawal of candidates.