Bihar minister Deepak Prakash missing from NDA's MLC poll list, fuels speculation

Patna,UPDATED: Jun 6, 2026 20:23 IST

The upcoming Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) elections on June 18 have sparked fresh political discussions within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), particularly over the future of minister Deepak Prakash and the political position of senior leader Upendra Kushwaha.

A total of 10 seats are up for election. Based on the current strength of parties in the Bihar Assembly, the NDA is comfortably placed to win nine of the 10 seats. As a result, the distribution of tickets has acquired significant political importance.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced four candidates for the MLC elections. Janata Dal (United) has also declared four candidates, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has fielded one candidate. With nearly all the winnable seats distributed among alliance partners, attention has shifted to one prominent name missing from the list — Deepak Prakash.

Deepak Prakash is currently a minister in the Samrat Choudhary-led Bihar government. Under constitutional provisions, a minister who is not a member of either House of the legislature must get elected within six months to continue in office. If Prakash does not become an MLC, he may have to resign from the cabinet.

His absence from the NDA’s list of MLC candidates has fuelled political speculation within the alliance.

Political circles have also discussed reports that when the BJP earlier sent Upendra Kushwaha to the Rajya Sabha, there was an understanding that his party could later merge with the BJP. According to these reports, Deepak Prakash was expected to be accommodated through an MLC seat as part of that arrangement.

However, sources now claim that Kushwaha has stepped back from the proposed merger plan. Political observers believe this may be one of the reasons why Deepak Prakash's name does not feature in the NDA's MLC candidate list.

Neither the BJP nor Kushwaha's party has issued any official statement on these reports, but the discussion has gained traction in Bihar's political circles.

The developments have drawn attention to changing power equations within the NDA. Political observers are also linking the issue to the growing influence of Chirag Paswan, whose party has 19 MLAs, and to the BJP's evolving social and political strategy.

The situation carries added political significance because when the BJP earlier chose Upendra Kushwaha for the Rajya Sabha instead of backing Pawan Singh, the move was widely seen as a sign of Kushwaha's influence within the NDA.

Political equations in Bihar, however, change rapidly.

Today, Pawan Singh is set to become an MLC, while Deepak Prakash's political future remains uncertain. If Prakash is not accommodated in the Legislative Council and loses his ministerial position, it will be viewed as a major political setback for Upendra Kushwaha and his camp.

The coming days are expected to provide greater clarity, but the June 18 MLC elections have already emerged as an important test of political influence within Bihar's ruling alliance.

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