New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday unveiled its first list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections, naming nine nominees from six states. The announcement was made by the party’s Central Election Committee at its New Delhi headquarters, according to an official release.
From Bihar, the party has fielded its National President Nitin Nabin along with Shivesh Kumar. In Assam, Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan have been nominated, while Laxmi Verma will contest from Chhattisgarh. Sanjay Bhatia is the candidate from Haryana. Odisha will see Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar representing the BJP, and Rahul Sinha has been selected from West Bengal.
Earlier, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced four candidates for the Upper House polls: Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy, and Koel Mallick. Supriyo, a former Union Minister who later joined the Trinamool Congress, currently serves as a Cabinet Minister in the West Bengal government. Rajeev Kumar previously served as Director General of Police of West Bengal. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy is known for her work in constitutional law, while Koel Mallick is a well-known personality in the Bengali film industry.
Meanwhile, Naveen Patnaik, president of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, also declared two nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections — Dr Santrupt Misra and Dr Datteswar Hota. Speaking to reporters, Patnaik said Misra would contest for the third seat, while Hota, a noted doctor from Odisha and former vice chancellor of the Odisha Health University as well as former principal of SCB Medical College, has been fielded as a common candidate. He appealed to all parties to support Hota’s candidature.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has scheduled polling for March 16, with vote counting set for 5 pm the same day. The entire process will conclude by March 20. The elections aim to fill 37 seats across 10 states — Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana — where members’ terms are ending in April 2026. The notification for the polls was issued on February 26, with nominations open until March 5, scrutiny on March 6, and the last date for withdrawal fixed for March 9.