BJP picks Shahnawaz as Bihar MLC candidate

BJP national spokesperson and former Union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain was on Saturday declared the saffron party’s candidate for the bypoll to Bihar’s Legislative Council.

His nomination to the state’s Upper House is near certain with the ruling NDA having sufficient numbers in the Legislative Assembly — 125 seats in a House of 243.

Hussain was a Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

His candidature was confirmed by BJP national general secretary and party headquarters in-charge Arun Singh. This is Hussain’s first attempt in electoral politics after he unsuccessfully contested the Bhagalpur seat in the 2014 general elections.

He lost by a narrow margin to RJD’s Shailesh Kumar. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP decided to give the Bhagalpur seat to the JD (U) as part of the seat-sharing arrangement.

Since then, Hussain has been working as one of the BJP’s national spokespersons. While Hussain was not available for comment, Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand told The Indian Express: “We welcome the decision of the Central leadership. Hussain’s vast Parliamentary experience would be useful in Bihar Upper House and the level of debate would rise with his presence.”