Patna |Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP president Nitin Nabin were among five NDA candidates who filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday.

They filed the papers in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the office of Assembly Secretary Khyati Singh.

The other NDA candidates who filed their nominations are BJP state general secretary Shivesh Kumar, JD(U)'s Ram Nath Thakur and RLM's Upendra Kushwaha.

Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were present when the nominations were filed.

Polls have been declared for five Rajya Sabha seats from the state. The election of the NDA candidates to the Upper House of Parliament is certain, as per the tally in the state legislature.

Though the RJD does not have the numbers, its outgoing MP Amarendra Dhari Singh also filed nomination papers.

First preference votes of 41 MLAs are needed to win a Rajya Sabha seat. At present, the NDA has 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with the BJP at 89 and the JD(U) at 85.

Kumar will go to the Rajya Sabha in place of JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh, whose tenure is ending. The tenure of RJD's Prem Chand Gupta will also end.

For Nabin, who was appointed the BJP president earlier this year, this will be his first stint in Parliament. He has been a member of the assembly since 2006.

Kumar announced his decision to enter the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, bringing the curtains down on his 20-year tenure as the longest-serving CM of the state.