Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy on Thursday won their respective Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar.
It has been reported that the BJP and its partner Janata Dal -United are optimistic about winning three seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal and LJP appear confident of winning both the seats they are contesting.
The RJD-LJP alliance has the support of 68 MLAs, against the requirement of 76, to ensure victory for both of its nominees.
The JD-U and BJP have 135 legislators. It has 21 surplus votes over the 114 required to ensure the victory of its three nominees.
Polling is going on for the 18 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Orissa and Jharkhand.
The other prominent candidates, whose fate will be decided on Thursday, are senior criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes and former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu.
