JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman

As the race to Bihar polls heats up, JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh - the NDA's candidate for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, was elected by the Upper House as the Monsoon Session commenced on Monday. Singh, who has been elected for the second consecutive time was pitted against RJD MP Manoj Jha. With NDA's 116 seats over the Opposition's 61 seats, the vote was tipped in favour to Singh.

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Ahead of the vote, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had reached out to BJD chief Naveen Pattnaik to support the NDA candidate. While non- NDA parties BJD and YSRCP extended its support to Singh, AAP, SP, CPI(M) and Shiv Sena pledged its support to Opposition candidate - RJD's Manoj Jha. TRS abstained from voting.

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Who is Harivansh Narayan Singh?

A journalist by profession, Singh worked as the editor of Prabhat Khabar and served as the media advisor to the eighth Prime Minister of India, Chandra Shekhar Singh. Born in socialist icon Jai Prakash Narayan (JP)'s birthplace - Sitab Diara in 1956, Singh graduated from the Banaras Hindu University. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2014, Singh is known to be a close aide of Nitish Kumar.

Experts have hinted that BJP-JD(U) alliance is targetting the Rajput vote bank in the poll-bound Bihar, by choosing the Rajput-born Singh as its candidate. Currently, Bihar-born actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death - which has become a poll issue for all Bihar parties, has been brought up by all candidates in their debut poll rallies. Moreover, BJP retaining its JD(U) Dy Chairman is a move endorsing CM Nitish Kumar as its Bihar leader ahead of the polls. The Opposition too chose RJD's Brahmin-born Manoj Jha as its candidate keeping Bihar polls in mind. 

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Bihar assembly elections 

Bihar will go to polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic in October-November, with the EC releasing guidelines for conducting polls. As BJP lost in Delhi, all eyes are set on former party chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar -led JDU. While Kumar faces strong anti-incumbency, RJD - Bihar's main opposition has lost the lustre it once had due to the absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav - with his son Tejashwi, most likely to be named as CM hopeful.  Currently, the JDU-BJP combination rules the state with 131 seats, while the RJD-Congress opposition has 111 seats.