RCP Singh takes dig at Nitish Kumar a day after not being fielded for RS polls

Patna: A day after the Janata Dal (United) decided against nominating Union steel minister RCP Singh for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, the minister said on Monday he would consult Prime Minister Narendra Modi about continuing in this current responsibility.

Addressing the reporters on Monday evening in this matter, Singh said, "I will meet PM Modi soon. My tenure as a Rajya Sabha member will get over on July 6. The party has given me this responsibility till July, but Prime Minister Modi will decide if I continue as a minister."

The Janata Dal (United) has put a question mark on the political future of its senior party leader, RCP Singh, by denying him another term in the Rajya Sabha. This would mean that Singh - the party's only representative in the Union Cabinet - will now have to resign as Steel Minister since his Upper House tenure ends in July.

The minister thanked JD(U) chief and Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, for nominating him thrice to the Upper House but added that the numbers were not in favour of projections of Kumar as a PM candidate.

"JD(U) was invited (in cabinet berth) is more than enough. How can you dream of this (Nitish Kumar as a PM candidate) with 16 MPs. You need at least 273 MPs to fulfill your aspiration," Singh said to reporters on Monday.

Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states will take place on June 10. The maximum number of seats is in Uttar Pradesh, with polls to be held for 11 vacancies.

The states where these biennial elections will be held are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.

The Election Commission of India said that the notification for the biennial elections was issued on May 24, 2022, while the last date for making nominations is May 31, 2022. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 3, 2022. The counting of votes will be held on June 10, after the polling process gets over, the ECI statement read. (ANI)