Lalu calls RJD Parliamentary board meeting on March 1 amid Tejashwi's RS poll contest speculations

Amid speculations that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav may contest Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, party supremo Lalu Prasad convened its Parliamentary board meeting in Patna on Sunday (March 1, 2026). The meeting is scheduled to be held four days before the last date for filing nominations in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Talking to reporters, RJD State unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary said, “I have nothing to comment on the speculations, but one thing is quite clear. People want our leader, Mr. Yadav ji, in the Upper House of Parliament. Let’s wait. Things will soon become clear.” Of the total 16 Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, five will fall vacant in April, for which elections will be held on March 16.

The Rajya Sabha terms will end next month for Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U), Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh of the RJD, and Upendra Kushwaha of the RLM, a constituent of the NDA.

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The RJD, the principal Opposition party in the State, has only 25 MLAs, too few to secure a Rajya Sabha berth. The RJD-led grand alliance, which includes Congress, CPI(ML), CPI(M), and IIP, has only 35 members in the 243-strong State Assembly, six less than the minimum number required to get a berth in the Upper House of Parliament.

The suspense remains over the fifth seat, given the current situation where neither the RJD-led Mahagatbandhan nor the NDA has sufficient numbers to win it on its own.

To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs the support of at least 41 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. The last date for filing nominations is March 5, while scrutiny of papers will take place the next day. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations till March 9.