Patna: The Congress claimed a Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar after 16 years with former Union minister Akhilesh Prasad Singh filing his nomination on Monday.

Six candidates filed nominations on the last day for as many seats, which will enable all of them to be elected.

The last Congress leader from Bihar in the Rajya Sabha was R.K. Dhawan in 2002. The Congress was a major political force in the state till the '90s. Cut to 2010, and it had just four MLAs, which bounced back to 27 in 2015 thanks to the Grand Alliance with RJD and JDU.

The fluid political situation in Bihar, where there was a possibility of a seventh candidate, seems to have helped Akhilesh. The Congress had earlier wanted former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, but she reportedly refused.

Other factors that could have helped Akhilesh include his proximity to RJD chief Lalu Prasad (Akhilesh was the RJD's minister in the UPA government), and his Bhumihar caste. The Bhumihars have switched loyalties from the Congress to the BJP, and Congress leaders believe they need the caste's support to revive the party in Bihar.

The other distinguishing features of the Rajya Sabha nominations from Bihar this year are that there are no "outsider" candidates and no Dalit or backward caste candidate. Apart from Akhilesh, those who filed their nominations were the RJD's Manoj Jha and Ahmad Ashfaque Karim, the JDU's Bashishtha Narayan Singh and King Mahendra, and the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad who filed his nomination for the fourth consecutive term. Akhilesh and Mahendra are Bhumihars. Bashishtha is a Rajput. Jha is a Brahmin. Ravi Shankar is a Kayasth. Karim is from the minority community.

Some observers pointed to Karim and Mahendra's financial status. "Both Karim and Mahendra are wealthy people and there is nothing wrong in it because every political party needs money to run the organisation," a former Rajya Sabha member said.