TWO CONGRESS MLAs GO MISSING

TWO CONGRESS MLAs GO MISSING

16-MARCH-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA--------------------Major News Amidst the Bihar Rajya Sabha Elections! Contact has been lost with two Congress MLAs: Manoj Biswas and Surendra Prasad Kushwaha. Will the equation for the fifth seat now change?

Voting for Bihar's five Rajya Sabha seats commenced at 9:00 AM on Monday within the Assembly premises. The voting process is proceeding peacefully and is scheduled to continue until 5:00 PM. Following this, the counting of votes will begin, and the results are expected to be declared later today. In this election, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded five candidates, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)—representing the opposition *Mahagathbandhan* (Grand Alliance)—has fielded one candidate.

As voting began, MLAs from all political parties arrived at the Assembly to exercise their franchise. However, amidst this process, reports that two Congress MLAs have gone incommunicado have heightened political tensions. According to Congress sources, the party has been unable to establish contact with Manoj Biswas, the MLA representing the Forbesganj constituency. Party leaders state that it remains unclear, for the moment, where he is located or whether he will arrive at the Assembly to cast his vote.

It is reported that Manoj Biswas secured victory in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections following an extremely close contest. He defeated the BJP candidate, Vidya Sagar Keshari, by a narrow margin of just 221 votes. At the time of the election, his age was recorded as 38 years. Consequently, should he fail to participate in the voting process, the NDA could stand to gain a direct advantage.

The second Congress MLA reported to be off the party's radar is Surendra Prasad Kushwaha, the legislator representing the Valmikinagar constituency. According to party sources, they have been unable to establish contact with him as well. In the previous Assembly elections, Surendra Prasad Kushwaha defeated the Janata Dal (United) candidate—Dhirendra Pratap Singh, alias 'Rinku Singh'—by a margin of 1,675 votes. Speculation is also mounting within political circles regarding the possibility that these two MLAs may have established contact with the rival political camp. However, the Congress party has not yet officially confirmed these rumors. Based on numerical strength, the NDA is considered to be in a strong position in the Rajya Sabha elections. This time, the NDA has fielded five candidates. These include Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Navin, Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha President Upendra Kushwaha, and the BJP's Shivesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, representing the *Mahagathbandhan* (Grand Alliance), the RJD has nominated Amarendra Dhari Singh as its candidate. Consequently, a total of six candidates are in the fray for five seats. Although the election may appear to be a one-sided contest in terms of political equations, the battle for the fifth seat has become intriguing.

According to the current arithmetic of the Legislative Assembly, a candidate requires the votes of 41 MLAs to secure a victory. In this context, every single vote is considered to be of significant importance. For this very reason, reports that two Congress MLAs are out of contact have heightened the concerns of the opposition.

Speculation regarding the possibility of cross-voting is also rife within political circles. However, both the NDA and the *Mahagathbandhan* claim to be keeping their respective MLAs united. The RJD relies heavily on the support of all Congress MLAs to ensure the victory of its sole candidate, given that the Congress party currently holds six seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

For the moment, all eyes are fixed on the vote counting scheduled to commence after 5:00 PM. The election results will clarify which alliance's candidate secures the fifth seat, and whether there is any truth to the rumors of cross-voting.