Announcement of schedule for the deferred Rajya Sabha polls raises hope for biennial polls for Bihar legislative council

PATNA: With the Election Commission announcing fresh schedule for the deferred Rajya Sabha polls in seven states on the first day of unlock-1 on Monday, political parties and officials in Bihar feel that the new development has raised hope for announcement of dates for the deferred biennial polls of Bihar legislative council within next few days.
“We hope the dates for the biennial elections to the state council will be announced in a day or two. The announcement of schedule for the deferred Rajya Sabha elections has made it clear that the EC has now begun the process to hold all deferred polls,” an assembly official familiar with the process of council polls, told TOI on Monday. The officer does not want to be identified.
“As the dates of the deferred Rajya Sabha polls were announced today, we expect the Election Commission will now pay its attention on the Bihar council’s biennial polls which could not be held on time due to the nationwide lockdown,” JD(U) state general secretary (headquarters) Navin Kumar Arya told TOI on Monday.
Around three months ahead of the assembly polls which are due in October-November, Bihar is all set to witness an electoral semi-final in the month of June –July, as the EC is expected to announce dates for the council biennial elections in next few days. Altogether 29 seats in the 75-member state legislative council are currently vacant.
Of the total 29 vacant seats, 12 will be filled-up through the process of nomination by the governor at the advice of the state government, while the rest 17 will be filled up through biennial polls from different constituencies.
Of the 17 members who will be elected through biennial polls, four will come from the graduates’ constituency, another four from the teachers’ constituency and the rest nine from the Vidhan Sabha constituency.
The four graduates' constituencies where biennial polls are likely to be held in next few weeks, are Patna, Tirhut, Darbhanga and Koshi. These seats fell vacant after the retirement of sitting members namely Neeraj Kumar (JD-U), Devesh Chandra Thakur (Independent), Dilip Kumar Choudhary (JD-U) and N K Yadav (BJP), respectively, on May 6, this year.
Similarly, four teachers’ constituencies where biennial polls will be held are Patna, Tirhut, Darbhanga, and Saran. These seats fell vacant after the retirement of sitting members Nawal Kishor Yadav (BJP), Sanjay Kumar Singh (CPI), Madan Mohan Jha (Congress) and Kedar Nath Pandey (CPI), respectively, on May 6 this year.
Besides these, nine seats of Vidhan Sabha constituency also fell vacant after nine members completed their six years term on May 6 this year. The EC is also expected to announce a schedule for biennial elections to these nine seats.
“Dulha (groom) is ready. Band party and Baraat are also ready. Now, the EC has to announce a ‘shubh muhurat’ (auspicious dates) for the council polls. We all are sitting in ready mode here,” the outgoing MLC from Darbhanga graduates’ constituency and senior JD(U) leader Dilip Kumar Choudhary told TOI on Monday. Choudhary is a prospective candidate from Darbhanga graduate seat. He said, all candidates were in ready mode and eagerly waiting to file nomination papers.