Day after NDA’s clear sweep in Bihar, Congress MLA says skipped RS ballot on State celebration’s chief’s recommendation; Rajesh Ram denies declare

All 4 MLAs of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance in Bihar who had been absent throughout voting for the Rajya Sabha election cited completely different causes on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) for skipping the ballot. The NDA gained all 5 seats that went to the polls on Monday (March 16, 2026).

While Congress MLAs Manohar Prasad Singh (Manihari), Surendra Prasad (Valimikinagar), and Manoj Bishwas (Forbesganj) claimed they weren’t pleased with the joint candidate, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Dhaka MLA Faisal Rahman cited his mom being unwell as the rationale for not turning up. The alliance’s candidate, Amarendra Dhari Singh of the RJD, misplaced the election.

Mr. Bishwas alleged that State Congress chief Rajesh Ram had given them instructions to skip voting as he was sad with not being concerned within the number of the joint candidate.

“On March 12, the three of us held a meeting with Rajeshji and he told us we are free to make our own decision. If our leader will not get due respect, then it is not good to cast votes in the favour of the RJD candidate. Just because our leader is a Dalit, he did not get due respect and was not involved in the entire process of the Rajya Sabha election,” Mr. Bishwas informed mediapersons in Patna.

He additionally denied any stress from the NDA camp to abstain from voting, asserting that he “just followed the party’s ideology”.

However, the State Congress president termed the allegation “baseless”. “Why did they switch off their mobile phones? The allegations by the MLAs are baseless. Being a national party, we are awaiting instructions from the central leadership to take disciplinary action against them Wait for the right time,” Mr. Ram informed reporters.

In a Facebook submit, Mr. Surendra Prasad stated, “Given that the Grand Alliance had the opportunity to contest just one seat, we could have selected a better candidate, Deepak Yadav or Mukesh Sahani. Instead of giving them the opportunity, the candidature was given to an individual belonging to a social group whose support base actually stands opposed to the Grand Alliance.”

Mr. Singh comes from the higher caste Bhumihar group, which is taken into account the core voter base of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Since I could not support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and the RJD selected the wrong candidate, I simply decided to refrain from voting,” he stated.

Mr. Surendra Prasad denied the allegation of getting engaged in horse-trading. “During the meeting with (RJD leader) Tejashwi Yadavji on March 5, his name and Hena Sahab (wife of late don-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin) were being discussed and we had no problem with these names. After some time, the three of us heard the name of Amarendra Dhari Singh. I heard his name for the first time and did not even recognise him. Then itself I had decided not to vote for him,” he stated.

Mr. Manohar Prasad stated Mr. Singh was not the Congress candidate so he skipped voting. “The Mahagathbandhan candidate was not declared; he was the RJD candidate. Nobody told us that he was the Mahagathbandhan candidate. The candidate was not in tune with our ideology,” he stated.

Of the 5 NDA candidates who secured victory, two every had been from the Bharatiya Janata Party – celebration nationwide president Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar – and the Janata Dal (United) – Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Ramnath Thakur. Rashtriya Lok Morcha president and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, who’s a part of the ruling alliance, additionally secured victory.

There was a contest for the fifth seat between Mr. Shivesh Kumar and Mr. Singh. While Mr. Shivesh Kumar secured 38 votes, Mr. Singh received 37 votes.