Bharatiya Janata Party candidate M.J. Akbar and JMM nominee Haji Hussain Ansari are left in the fray after the expiry of last date of withdrawal,” Assembly secretary-cum-returning officer Sushil Kumar Singh said today.
The BJP has 43 members and its ally AJSU has five members, taking it to 48 in the 82-member House.
According to sources, the recent conviction of AJSU MLA Kamal Kishore Bhagat has raised a question whether he would be eligible to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Bhagat was sentenced to seven years in prison by a local court in connection with an attack on a doctor in 1993.
Former Chief Minister Hemant Soren of the JMM with strength of 19 MLAs in the House said that he would demand that the six MLAs who joined the BJP from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik-JVM) should not be given the voting right till their disqualification petition was disposed of.
However, the Speaker, has already said that the six MLAs could participate in the RS voting.
Given the strength of the ruling party BJP and its ally AJSU in the House the journalist-turned-politician Akbar stands a strong chance of defeating his opponent .
