India, March 6 -- Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced his candidature for the Rajya Sabha as a Janata Dal (United) nominee, signalling the end of an era in the heartland state just four months after winning a thumping majority in assembly polls along with ally the Bharatiya Janata Party which now looks set to have its first chief minister in one of the country's most electorally important provinces.

Kumar, 75, filed his papers for the March 16 Upper House polls flanked by Union home minister Amit Shah, deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha and JD(U) leaders in Patna. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) commands a brute majority of 202 in the 243-member assembly and is comfortably plac...