The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on November 27 named former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi as its candidate for the December 14 Rajya Sabha bypoll in the state.
The Election Commission of India (EC) on November 19 announced the schedule for by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar which fell vacant after the death of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on October 8.
The polling for the casual vacancy will be held on December 14, according to the EC. The notification was issued on November 26, while the last day of nomination is on December 3 of this year.
Modi, the former Deputy CM, had been kept out of the state Cabinet this time around, despite the BJP managing to secure more seats during the Bihar Assembly polls than its alliance partner, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United).
This had in turn given rise to the speculation that the BJP was thinking of a central role for Modi.
The new Bihar Cabinet, meanwhile, saw two new Deputy CMs, BJP's Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, replacing Sushil Modi.
