Bihar CM Nitish Kumar dials YS Jagan seeks support in Rajya Sabha Dy. Chairman election

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday night phoned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. YSJagan was asked to co-operate in the election of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. On the phone, Nitish asked CM Jagan to support his party's candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh in the Deputy Chairman election. In 2018, NDA candidate Harivansh defeated Congress' BK Hariprasad to become the Deputy Chairman. His tenure ended this year. With that, Harivansh stood in the competition once again.

The YSRCP currently has a strength of six members in the Rajya Sabha, including the recently elected members. From Andhra Pradesh, the YCP has six members, the BJP four and the TDP has one. The monsoon sessions of Parliament will be held from September 14 to October 1. The election of the Deputy Chairman will take place on the first day of the meetings.

On the other hand, the BJP is trying to unanimously elect a deputy chairman. As part of that, Nitish Kumar phoned Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as well on Thursday and asked him to co-operate in the election of the deputy chairman. He said he would discuss with party leaders and take a decision. The opposition Congress party will announce its candidate today. The NDA currently has 114 members in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. The UPA has 104 members. It remains to be seen what decision would Jagan Mohan Reddy take in this regard.