Bihar Minister Nishant Kumar. File | Photo credit: ANI
Like his father and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar, newly-inducted Bihar Health Minister Nishant Kumar is likely to join the State Legislative Council next month.
Mr. Nitish was also a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state for more than two decades. Up to 10 seats in the state’s upper house will become vacant on June 28, and elections for the seats may be announced at the end of May.
Of the 10 seats, nine will be vacated on June 28, while one seat held by Mr. Nitish was already vacated when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha on March 30. Of the 10 vacant seats, five are from the ruling coalition partner JD(U), two each from the BJP and the opposition Rashtriya Congress Janata Dal, while one seat is from the Janata Dal.
Apart from former CM Nitish Kumar, four other JD(U) leaders will see their term as legislators expire next month – Ghulam Gaus, Bhishm Sahani, Kumud Verma and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha.
Elected to the assembly in 2025, Mr. Kushwaha also recently became the Minister for Planning and Development in Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary’s cabinet. The two BJP seats that will fall vacant are those of Chief Minister Samarat Choudhary, whose term ended last year when he was elected to the assembly from Tarapur constituency, and Sanjay Mayukh, whose term ends on June 28.
From the opposition are two RJD leaders, Mohammed Farooq and Sunil Kumar, along with Congress member Samir Kumar Singh, whose term is coming to an end.
Since the support of 25 MLAs would be required to elect one member of the Council, the RHJD hopes to retain only one seat this time as it has exactly 25 MLAs in the assembly, while the NDA, which has 202 MLAs in the 243-member House, could secure nine MLC seats.
Looking for a clean sweep: BJP
A senior BJP leader from the state told The Hindu, preferring anonymity, “This time the NDA will try to win all 10 seats in the Council polls likely to be held in June. We will not allow the RJD to win even a single seat.” The NDA has already started preparations for the elections, he claimed. However, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari replied, “Let the time come and everyone will know which party won how many seats.” Recalling the strength of his party’s legislators in the Assembly, Mr. Tiwari said, “Though we are fewer, we hope to get support from MLAs of other parties as well.”
The Election Commission (EC) is expected to announce the dates for elections to the 10 vacant seats in the state Legislative Council in the last week of May.
Like Nishant Kumar, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Deepak Prakash’s son is also likely to be elected to the Council this time. Mr. Prakash is the Panchayati Raj Minister in Mr. Choudhary’s cabinet and is not a member of either the Assembly or the Council.
Published – 11 May 2026 21:23 IST
