Patna: JD (U) candidate Lalan Prasad has officially filed his nomination for a vacant seat in the Bihar Legislative Council, with the process taking place at the Assembly on Thursday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, and Minor Water Resources Minister Santosh Suman were among the senior leaders present to support his candidacy.
Speaking to reporters after the nomination, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar proposed the name of Lalan Prasad, a dedicated worker of the Samata Party who has served in the JD(U) for nearly 30 years. His name was supported with the mutual consent of the NDA.”
Voting for the seat is scheduled to take place on January 23, with the result expected on the same day. The nomination process began on January 6 and will close on January 13. Given the NDA’s numerical strength in the Assembly, Lalan Prasad’s victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion. However, the RJD has yet to announce its candidate. Should the RJD opt not to field anyone, Prasad is likely to win unopposed.
The by-election was necessitated after Sunil Singh’s membership in the Legislative Council came under scrutiny. The Ethics Committee of the council had recommended action against Singh, citing his absence from four consecutive House meetings and his failure to address allegations during the fifth meeting he attended. The committee’s report also accused Singh of making repeated statements against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and engaging in behavior deemed unparliamentary and undemocratic.
In response, Singh alleged that the report was deliberately crafted to silence his voice. “This has been done to suppress the concerns of the poor, farmers, the deprived, and the unemployed,” he said, rejecting the charges against him.
With the NDA’s backing and no immediate challenge from opposition parties, Lalan Prasad’s election is expected to consolidate JD(U)’s hold over the Legislative Council.
