Patna, May 26 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced elections for 10 vacant seats of the Bihar Legislative Council, with polling scheduled for June 18.

According to the notification issued by the Commission on Tuesday, one by-election will be conducted for the seat vacated by former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after his election to the Rajya Sabha. And biennial elections will be held for nine seats whose members are set to complete their terms on June 28.

The nine outgoing members include Dr Kumud Verma, Professor Ghulam Ghaus, Mohammad Farooq, Bhishma Sahani, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, Sanjay Prakash, Sameer Kumar Singh, Samrat Choudhary, and Sunil Kumar Singh.

Among these, the seats previously held by Samrat Choudhary and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha are already vacant because both leaders were elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

The Election Commission stated that separate notifications have been issued for Nitish Kumar’s by-election seat and the nine regular vacancies.

Simultaneously, elections for certain Legislative Council seats in Karnataka will also be conducted.

As per the election schedule, the official notification will be issued on June 1, while June 8 has been fixed as the last date for filing nominations.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on June 9, and candidates can withdraw nominations until June 11.

Polling will be conducted on June 18 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and the results are scheduled to be declared the same day at 5 p.m.

Politically, the ruling National Democratic Alliance currently enjoys a strong numerical advantage in the Bihar Assembly with 201 legislators.

Given this strength, political observers believe the NDA is almost certain to secure nine of the ten seats, while the opposition may manage to win one seat.

However, discussions have intensified over the possibility of political manoeuvring if the NDA decides to contest all 10 seats, drawing comparisons with the intense strategic contest witnessed during recent Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar.

–IANS

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