Janata Dal (United) has named its Jharkhand unit chief and former Member of Legislative Assembly(MLA) Khiru Mahto as the party's candidate from Bihar for Rajya Sabha elections, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh informed on Sunday.
Speaking to ANI, JD(U) national president said the party wants to expand in Jharkhand also and Khiru Mahto who has been associated with the party for a long time will help in this.
"Khiru Mahto has been associated with the party since it was formed. This time we've decided to nominate him for Rajya Sabha. We want to expand our party to Jharkhand as well. We assess his nomination would help us there," the JD(U) President said.
Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant due to the retirement of members from 15 states will be held on June 10. The members are retiring on different dates between June 21 and August 1. Eleven seats are due to fall vacant from Uttar Pradesh this year, while six members each will retire from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Five Rajya Sabha MPs will retire from Bihar while four each will depart from Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Apart from these, seats will fall vacant when three members each from Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, two each from Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana and Jharkhand, and one from Uttarakhand retire.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Congress' Abhishek Singhvi Elected Unopposed To Rajya Sabha From Telangana Union Minister George Kurian Files Nomination For Rajya Sabha Bypolls Elections To 12 Rajya Sabha Seats From 9 States On September 3: Poll Body Is Safe Car Enough? Volvo Crash That Killed CEO, Family Sparks Big Question "Nothing Short Of Nightmare": Woman Misses Life Event, Slams Air India Pics: Rahul Gandhi's Family Lunch At Iconic Delhi Restaurant Tata Institute Of Research Invites Applications For Multiple Positions Couple Tied To Pole, Thrashed By Mob In Bihar In PM's Kuwait Visit, Top Honour, Bilateral Meet, Delegation-Level Talks Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.