NEW DELHI: The election to the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman will see a direct contest between NDA 's Harivansh Narayan Singh and opposition nominee B K Hariprasad on Thursday.

Both the ruling NDA and the opposition camp have given notices on behalf of their respective candidates and their papers have been found to be in order, according to sources in the Rajya Sabha secretariat.

The election will be held as scheduled at 11 AM tomorrow.

The post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman has been lying vacant since the retirement of P J Kurien on July 1.

JD(U) member Harivansh gave notices for his nomination as the NDA nominee yesterday, the sources said, adding that Congress member Hariprasad gave five sets of notices as the opposition candidate today.

After giving the notices, Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma claimed that the numbers were in their favour.

He said the opposition had to contest the post as things were "not right" in the Rajya Sabha.

