Faced with pressures from its allies the JD(U) and the JMM, the BJP has relented and given up its demand of fielding its full share of candidates for
Rajya Sabha from Bihar and Jharkhand, and also denied a ticket to its Deputy Leader in the Upper House S S Ahluwalia for another term. 

The BJP wanted to contest three of the vacant seats for Rajya Sabha in Bihar. However, ally the JD(U) insisted on allowing only two seats to the party and has fielded former minister Vashist Narain Singh as its candidate. As a consequence, the BJP has fielded its general secretaries Ravi Shankar Prasad and Dharmendra Pradhan from Bihar. Ahluwalia has been denied a ticket for another term, party sources said today.

Though Ahluwalia, a former Congressman, did not have "many friends" in the BJP, he was "useful" in the Rajya Sabha for "effectively" taking on the government due to his experience about parliamentary practices and tactics as well as his "rapport" with the Congress leaders, they said. 

The sources said Bihar unit BJP leaders tried to convince Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to give it the third seat but he did not budge. Later, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, who has a good equation with Kumar, also made an effort but to no avail, they said.