In 2014, the
Janata Dal (United) nominated Singh to the
Rajya Sabha from the state of Bihar for a six-year term. On 8 August 2018, he was elected as
Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for a six-year term as the candidate of the
National Democratic Alliance, winning the election by a vote of 125 to 105 against the opposition candidate. He is the third person ever and first in forty years to hold this post who is not from the
Indian National Congress. He was re-elected as the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha on
14 September 2020 after he returned to the Rajya Sabha for his second term from
Bihar. Prior to the
2026 Rajya Sabha elections, Singh announced his retirement from the upper house and was not re-nominated by the
Janata Dal (United).
Nitish Kumar was announced as his successor in March 2026. However, Singh was
nominated as
Member of Rajya Sabha by
Droupadi Murmu from Journalism field in April 2026. He succeeded
Ranjan Gogoi, former
Chief Justice of India whose term ended in March 2026. He was re-elected as the
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha for the third term on 17 April 2026 unopposed. He became first person since 2004 after
Najma Heptulla and first non-
Congress person, re-elected for third time for the post. He is also the first
Nominated member elected as Deputy Chairman. ==References==