BJP, Congress Gear Up For Rajya Sabha Elections As Key Leaders File Nominations Ahead Of June 8 Deadline

New Delhi: Political activity intensified across the country on Saturday as candidates vying for seats in the Upper House of Parliament officially filed their nominations, with the deadline for filing nominations for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections fast approaching.

The elections, scheduled for June 18, will see a contest for 24 seats across ten states, setting the stage for a significant recalibration of the legislative body.

The Election Commission had on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections for the 24 seats. The last date of filing nominations is June 8.

The 24 seats include four seats each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

From the BJP camp, party national general secretary Tarun Chugh and party leader Rajneesh Agrawal officially filed their nominations from Madhya Pradesh.

The filing process took place in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

Following the submission of his nomination papers, Rajneesh Agrawal spoke to ANI to express his appreciation for the party's trust."I repeatedly express my gratitude to the central leadership, the state leadership, the national president, and everyone. This leadership takes decisions under a process," Agrawal stated.

BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate Tarun Chugh, on filing his nomination, expressed the sentiment, saying, “We are soldiers of the party; this is a party directive, and we are fulfilling it as party workers.”

Chugh also expressed gratitude, stating, “I am deeply grateful to both the national leadership and the leadership in Madhya Pradesh. They have showered us with such abundant blessings.”

Meawhile, the Congress has also nominated Mansoor Ali Khan and Pawan Khera from Karnataka and Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh. Neeraj Dangi has been nominated from Rajasthan, while Praveen Chakravarty has been fielded from Tamil Nadu and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.

After filing his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday said he was happy to be in the city and promised to keep engaging with the state.

Speaking to the reporters, Khera said, “Happy to be in Bangalore. Very happy to be in this state, in this beautiful city, and we will keep talking.”

Congress candidate Mansoor Ali Khan also expressed his gratitude, stating, “I would like to thank the Congress High Command and the state leadership... It is a great opportunity given to me by the party... There are a lot of pressing issues both for the state and for the country, and I intend to address them. Congress is a good combination of experience and talent, and also a very democratic party.”

Meenakshi Natarajan, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) In-charge for Telangana, also expressed gratitude to the party's senior leadership and MLAs for entrusting her with this responsibility, characterising the polls as a fight for "democratic values".

She said, “I thank all the senior leaders and MLAs of the party for giving me this opportunity. The Congress is ready to face all kinds of situations. This is a fight of democratic values.”

Along with this, Lingamaneni Ramesh filed his nomination papers as a Rajya Sabha candidate of the Jana Sena Party (JSP) on Saturday.

He expressed gratitude towards the party president and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, CM Chandrababu Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I am grateful to the Jana Sena Party and its president, Honorable Deputy Chief Minister Shri Pawan Kalyan Garu, for giving me this opportunity. Similarly, I express my special thanks to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Garu and the Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu Garu. We have just submitted the nomination papers," he said, adding that he will be informing further later.

Other than filing nominations, the political temperature have also risen as Madhya Pradesh State revenue Minister Karan Singh Verma took a jibe at the Congress, saying that while the party fears cross-voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, the BJP members are simply "following party directives", and doing the work assigned to them.

Verma said, “Congress fears cross-voting. As for us, we do not fear; we follow the party's directives and carry out the work assigned to us.”

Furthermore, Jharkhand's Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sudivya Kumar, urged Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to contest the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections on two seats, while emphasising that the final decision will rest with Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

With only two days left for the nomination deadline, the contest for 24 Rajya Sabha seats highlights strategic efforts by political parties to balance representation across different regions. This race sets the stage for a critical and high-stakes session in Parliament ahead.

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