Published 18:14 IST, September 14th 2020

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

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

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Ahead of vote, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had reached out to BJD chief Naveen Pattnaik to support NDA candidate. While n- 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 Maj Jha. TRS abstained from voting.

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Who is Harivansh Narayan Singh?

A journalist by profession, Singh worked as editor of Prabhat Khabar and served as media advisor to 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 Banaras Hindu University. Elected to Rajya Sabha in April 2014, Singh is kwn to be a close aide of Nitish Kumar.

Experts have hinted that BJP-JD(U) alliance is targetting Rajput vote bank in poll-bound Bihar, by choosing 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 ir debut poll rallies. Moreover, BJP retaining its JD(U) Dy Chairman is a move endorsing CM Nitish Kumar as its Bihar leader ahead of polls. Opposition too chose RJD's Brahmin-born Maj Jha as its candidate keeping Bihar polls in mind. 

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Bihar assembly elections 

Bihar will go to polls amid COVID-19 pandemic in October-vember, with 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 lustre it once had due to absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav - with his son Tejashwi, most likely to be named as CM hopeful.  Currently, JDU-BJP combination rules state with 131 seats, while RJD-Congress opposition has 111 seats.

18:14 IST, September 14th 2020