Biennial elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats across ten states are set for June 18. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination from Karnataka. Both BJP and Congress have released their candidate lists for the Upper House polls.
The Upper House of the Parliament braces itself for a significant recalibration as the deadline for political parties to prepare to contest in the upcoming biennial elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats across ten states approaches. The biennial elections are scheduled to be held on June 18.
Earlier, on June 3, the Election Commission issued a notification for biennial elections. 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.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Files Nomination from Karnataka
In view of the Rajya Sabha biennial elections, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination today. He is a senior Congress candidate to the Upper House from Karnataka. His term in the Upper House will end later this month. Kharge was accompanied by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President BK Hariprasad.
Addressing reporters after filing his nomination, Kharge said, "All the MLAs and my leaders have unanimously chosen me. The election is scheduled for June 18, and I am confident that everyone will remain united and ensure the victory of the Congress candidates."
Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre expressed confidence that the Congress president would be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Speaking to ANI, Khandre said, "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji has filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. He will be elected unanimously."
Further, Karnataka Minister MC Sudhakar also welcomed Kharge's nomination, describing him as the "most deserving person" and praising his years of dedicated service to the party. He said Congress leaders were proud of Kharge's candidature and added that he had signed as a proposer on the nomination form. "We are all happy. He is our Congress Committee President, and he has been working tirelessly for years. He is the most deserving person, and we are all proud. I also signed as a proposer on his nomination form," Sudhakar said.
BJP's Debashish Samantaray Files Nomination for Odisha Bypoll
On the opposition's front, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Debashish Samantaray also filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha by-election at the Odisha Assembly premises in Bhubaneswar. He was accompanied by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal, and other senior party leaders, underscoring the BJP's unified support for his candidature.
Reflecting on his departure from the BJD, Samantaray asserted that Odia sentiments were hurt during the 2024 elections, claiming that the emergence of a person from South India as Naveen Babu's successor pushed the party significantly backward and ultimately caused its defeat. "First of all, I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our National President Nitin Nabin, Odisha State President Manmohan Samal, and the popular Chief Minister of the state, Mohan Majhi, for personally welcoming me in Delhi. There is a leadership crisis in my former party, the BJD. Naveen Babu is the main leader, but above him, there is a retired IAS officer from another state named VK Pandian. The reason I left the BJD is that Odia sentiments were hurt during the last election; a person from South India emerged as Naveen Babu's successor, which pushed the party significantly backwards and caused the party's defeat," said Samantaray.
NDA Finalises Seat-Sharing in Andhra Pradesh
Earlier, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in Andhra Pradesh, during a coordination meeting on Thursday, finalised the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, with the TDP set to contest three seats, while the Jana Sena Party will contest one seat.
Parties Announce Candidates for Upper House Polls
Meanwhile, the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party finalised the names of representatives across key states to contest the Upper House polls.
BJP Candidate List
BJP has released the list of 11 candidates for the upcoming Biennial and Bye-elections to the Rajya Sabha The BJP has fielded Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh; Rajubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya from Gujarat; Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal from Madhya Pradesh; A Sharda Devi from Manipur; and Alka Gurjar and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan. For the Rajya Sabha by-election in Odisha, the party has nominated Debashish Samantaray as its candidate.
Congress Candidate List
Meanwhile, the Congress party has released its list of seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled to be held on June 18. The list includes party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been nominated from Karnataka. The party has also nominated Mansoor Ali Khan and Pawan Khera from Karnataka. Along with Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera and Mansoor Ali Khan, the party has fielded Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh, Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand. The party has renominated Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan.
The Election Commission had on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats. The last date of filing nominations is June 8.
As the deadline for nominations approaches, the race for 24 Rajya Sabha seats shows how parties are trying to balance their candidates across different regions. This sets the stage for a very busy and important session in Parliament ahead. (ANI)
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