Bihar BJP MLC resigns, unelected RLM leader Deepak Prakash may be elected in his place to remain Minister
A day after the Supreme Court rapped the Bihar government for keeping an unelected Minister, Deepak Prakash, beyond six months, the ruling party BJP’S MLC
A day after the Supreme Court rapped the Bihar government for keeping an unelected Minister, Deepak Prakash, beyond six months, the ruling party BJP’S MLC Devesh Kumar on Friday (July 31, 2026) resigned from his position. Mr. Prakash might be elected in his place to remain a Minister in the ruling NDA cabinet. Prakash was the State’s Panchayati Raj Minister since November 20, 2025, without being a member of either house of the State Legislature. Earlier, on May 30, 2026, a petition in the Supreme Court was filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh seeking Mr. Prakash’s appointment as Minister be declared “invalid”. The petition further alleged Mr. Prakash’s appointment as “fraud upon the constitution”. Hearing the petition, the apex court on July 30, had rapped the State government, asking how could an unelected member be a Minister in the government even after six months.
Experts said that Article 164 (4) of the Constitution grants Ministers a grace period of six months to get elected to either house after being appointed as a Minister. “A Minister who, for any period of six consecutive months, is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister,” they said. Hence, the Minister must quit from the office if not elected within a period of six months. Mr. Prakash has been a Minister in the Bihar Cabinet for 7 months and 22 days. The court fixed the next date of hearing on August 4, 2026. On Friday (July 31, 2026), MLC Devesh Kumar, who was nominated as a member of the Bihar Legislative Council on the Governor’s quota on March 17, 2021, tendered his resignation to the State Legislative Council chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh.
This move was, apparently, to accommodate Mr. Prakash to remain as a Minister in CM Choudhary’s Cabinet. Kumar’s tenure was to expire on March 16, 2027. He is said to have resigned from his post to “satisfy constitutional requirements for a Cabinet Minister who needed to secure his legislative membership within a period of six months”. State BJP president Sanjay Saraogi, too, was present on the occasion. Mr. Kumar, a former journalist, refused to speak to media persons after tendering his resignation. However, party sources said he is set for a new, bigger responsibility in the party. Mr. Prakash’s nomination in the State Legislative Council is yet to be notified. Prakash, 36, is the son of Upendra Kushwaha, NDA coalition partner Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) leader and Rajya Sabha member.
The BriefWire