Premchand Gupta, A.D. Singh RJD's RS candidates from Bihar

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday announced the names of both its candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections.

At a press conference held in the RJD office on Thursday morning, the party's state president Jagdanand Singh announced the names of the two candidates - Premchand Gupta and Amarendhari Singh for Rajya Sabha elections.

Both the candidates will file their nominations in the Assembly on Thursday.

The RJD's decision to announce the names of Rajya Sabha candidates is surprising. It came despite its ally Congress putting pressure for one seat. The Congress had claimed one seat on the ground that the RJD had promised it during seat-sharing agreement ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leader and party's Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil had written to the RJD to fulfil its promise, but the RJD has refused to concede one seat to the Congress.

The RJD, with 80 MLAs in the 243-member assembly, is likely to win both Rajya Sabha seats on the back of its own strength. The Congress has 26 MLAs and wanted one seat from the RJD quota. IANS