Patna, Aug 21 (IANS): The BJP has finalised Manan Mishra as their candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election.

Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary confirmed the development while also extending his best wishes to Manan Mishra.

Sanjay Mayukh, the party's MLC and chief spokesperson, shared the official list of candidates, with Manan Mishra's name confirmed as the BJP's choice from Bihar.

Manan Mishra, a senior advocate from Patna and a native of Gopalganj district, was selected after the central leadership deliberated over 35 potential candidates from Bihar, including prominent figures like Rituraj Sinha, Prem Ranjan Patel, Arvind Kumar Singh, Nikhil Anand and former Union Minister RK Singh.

The decision to nominate Mishra has come as a surprise to many within the BJP's Bihar unit.

Senior BJP leaders, including Samrat Choudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, and BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, were in New Delhi for discussions leading up to this selection.

Manan Mishra, an alumnus of Patna University, completed his law degree and began practising as an advocate in 1982. He is a gold medalist of Patna University.

Over the years, he has established himself as one of the most senior and respected lawyers at the Patna High Court. Mishra has been associated with the BJP from an early stage in his life and has also served as the president of the Bar Council. He has a long association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) too.

The NDA has already chosen Upendra Kushwaha as another candidate for the Rajya Sabha.

The two Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar became vacant after Misa Bharti of the RJD and Vivek Thakur of the BJP resigned from the posts. They were elected as MPs in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election from Patliputra and Nawada, respectively.