Patna

Voting for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar began on Monday, with five nominees from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and one from the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) contesting the biennial elections, officials said.

Among those who cast their votes were Tejashwi Yadav, Nitin Nabin, BJP MLA Maithili Thakur and jailed Anant Singh.

Polling began at 9 am and will continue until 5 pm at the Bihar Legislative Assembly Complex, where MLAs are casting their ballots. Counting will start after 5 pm, and the results are expected later the same day.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Nabin are among the NDA candidates. The coalition has also fielded Union minister Ram Nath Thakur, Upendra Kushwaha and BJP leader Shivesh Kumar.

After casting his vote, Tejashwi Yadav said the RJD candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh would win with support from five MLAs of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and one legislator of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

However, Sanjay Kumar Jha expressed confidence that all five NDA candidates would emerge victorious.

The AIMIM on Sunday announced that its five MLAs would back the RJD nominee in the election.

Speaking to reporters after voting, Anant Singh said he would not contest future elections if Nitish Kumar did not remain chief minister. Singh, the Mokama MLA, is currently in jail in connection with the killing of rival gangster Dular Chand Yadav and was allowed to vote on parole.

With numbers strongly favouring the NDA for four seats and slightly short for the fifth, the opposition forced a contest by fielding a candidate.

The administration has made extensive security arrangements for smooth polling.

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The NDA currently has 202 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, three short of the number needed to secure all five Rajya Sabha seats. To win a seat in the Upper House, a candidate requires the support of at least 41 MLAs.