Eight elected unopposed to R.S. from Bihar

By Our Staff Correspondent

PATNA, MARCH 22. In the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha all the eight seats from Bihar have been filled unopposed. That was facilitated by the withdrawal of the JD(U) candidate and retiring member, Mrs. Kamla Sinha. Those declared elected were Mr. Mahendra Prasad alias King Mahendra, Mrs. Kumkum Rai and Mr. Vijay Singh Yadav (all from RJD), Mr. Phalguni Ram (Congress-I), Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mr. S. S. Ahluwalia (BJP), Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Kumar (Samata Party) and Mr. R. K. Anand (JMM).

By withdrawing from the contest, Mrs. Kamla Sinha, saved the NDA from embarrassment, ensuring the victory of the JMM, which had been promised a Rajya Sabha berth in lieu of its support to Mr. Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister.

Election will however, be held on March 29 for the byelection to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council. For the Rajya Sabha byelection, pitted against the RJD candidate, Mr. Bhante Dhamma Viriyo, is the independent, Mr. Rajni Ranjan Sahu, formerly with the Congress(I). And for the Council seat, the RJD nominee, Mr. Rameshwar Sahu, is being challenged by Mr. Niranjan Kumar Singh, a BJP leader.

The RJD president, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, today left for New Delhi to hold talks with the Congress(I) leaders, on Cabinet expansion and the political fallout of the CBI's decision to chargesheet him and Mrs. Rabri Devi, in the disproportionate asset case.

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