Grand Alliance candidates Sharad Yadav, Ram Jethmalani and Misa Bharti with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD leaders Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad. (PTI photo)
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, noted Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti were among five candidates declared elected unopposed for Rajya Sabha from Bihar today.
Other two candidates who triumphed without a contest for the Upper House of Parliament included JD(U) nominee Ramchandra Prasad Singh and BJP nominee Gopal Narayan Singh.
Mr Jethmalani, a former BJP lawmaker and law minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, was elected to Rajya Sabha from RJD. He is presently pleading RJD chief Lalu Prasad's case in the multi-crore fodder scam in Ranchi.
With this, the tally of parties for the 16 Upper House seats from Bihar will be JD(U) 9, BJP 5 and RJD 2.
Except for Mr Jethmalani all the four victorious Rajya Sabha candidates collected certificate from Bihar Legislative Assembly Secretary-cum-Returning Officer Ram Shrestha Rai.
Mr Jethmalani's certificate was collected by Bhola Yadav, RJD legislator and a close confidante of Mr Prasad, Mr Rai told news agency PTI.
Besides, all seven candidates- that included five of 'Grand Alliance' while two BJP nominees- were elected unopposed for Legislative Council polls.
'Grand Alliance' nominees who were for the Legislative Council included- Gulam Rasool Baliyavi, CP Sinha (JD-U), SM Qamar Alam, Ranvijay Singh (RJD) and Tanveer Akhtar (Congress). The two BJP nominees who were elected to the upper house included Arjun Sahni and Vinod Narayan Jha.
The results were declared today by Ram Shrestha Rai after the time for withdrawal of candidature came to an end today at 3 pm.
Biennial elections were held to fill five Rajya Sabha and seven Legislative Council seats.