BJP Nominates Former Congress Candidate Manan Kumar Mishra for Rajya Sabha By-Election from Bihar

Patna: In a surprise move, the central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday nominated Manan Kumar Mishra, a former Congress candidate, as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-election from Bihar.

Mishra, who is the chairman of the Bar Council of India, had contested the 2010 Bihar assembly elections as a Congress candidate. He was also part of the legal cell of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and later contested the Lok Sabha elections from Champaran as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

According to BJP leaders, Mishra's name was not in the panel sent by the Bihar unit of the party. Instead, the names of former union power minister Raj Kumar Singh, party secretary Rituraj Sinha, and party veteran Prem Ranjan Patel were recommended.

A senior party leader expressed disappointment, saying, "The party preferred a person who was loyal to the Lalu-Rabri family and called them his parents over loyal BJP leaders."

The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of Vivek Thakur, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Nawada constituency. To fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Misa Bharti of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Patliputra, former union minister Upendra Kushwaha has been fielded by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)."