Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday called up his Odisha counterpart, Naveen Patnaik and sought his party Biju Janata Dal’s support for JD(U) candidate in the election to the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman.

Sources said Nitish, who is also the JD(U) chief, informed Naveen that his party MP Harivansh Narayan Singh, who held the post till April 9, is seeking re-election. The election is scheduled for September 14 and the last date for filing of nomination is September 11.

A former journalist, Harivansh had been elected to the Rajya Sabha on a JD(U) ticket from Bihar in 2014 for a period of six years. On August 8, 2018, he was elected the deputy chairperson of the Upper House of Parliament.

In those elections, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD had supported Harivansh drawing criticism from several quarters as JD(U) is running a coalition government with BJP in Bihar. The BJD follows an avowed policy of maintaining equidistance from BJP and Congress. The BJD had sought to clear the air over the issue, saying that it had supported the JD(U) because of “ideological similarities”.

BJD Rajya Sabha member Amar Patnaik said the chief minister would take the appropriate decision on the issue after considering all angles.