New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS): Former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha and the Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha bypolls on Wednesday.

Kushwaha, President of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, had failed to secure a seat in the Lok Sabha in the recent General Elections.

After filing his nomination, Kushwaha stated, "I have consistently raised my voice against the Collegium system. Now that I have the opportunity to go to Parliament, I will once again raise the issue of abolishing the Collegium system."

After filing the nomination papers, Kushwaha expressed his gratitude to everyone and claimed that the NDA was certain to form the government in Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled for next year.

The BJP had announced the nomination of senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra as its Rajya Sabha candidate on Tuesday.

Mishra said that the future belongs to the BJP.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for giving him the opportunity and stated that he would diligently fulfil any responsibility assigned to him by the top leadership of the BJP.

"We aim to strengthen the government and secure a grand victory in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections," he stated.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, BJP state President Dr Dilip Jaiswal, Vijay Kumar Sinha and several NDA leaders were present on the occasion.

Notably, Wednesday is the last day for filing nominations for the two vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.

Till now, no other candidates have filed nominations, raising chances of their election to the Upper House unopposed.

The RJD is yet to reveal its cards on the Rajya Sabha nominations. In case of a contest, voting will be held on September 3.

Two Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar fell vacant following election of the BJP's Vivek Thakur and RJD's Misa Bharti to the Lok Sabha.