New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 9 candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The first and most popular name in this list is that of the party’s national president Nitin Nabin, who has been fielded from Bihar.
The most important strategic step of the party behind this decision is to send Nitin Naveen to Rajya Sabha from Bihar. Because by giving Naveen a place in the Upper House of Parliament as party president, BJP wants to ensure that its top leader can actively participate in parliamentary debates, policy-making and national politics.
On March 16, the Election Commission has issued notification for holding elections on 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states, in which BJP is expected to gain a strong position due to its alliance and ruling states. The complete list of candidates is as follows
- Nitin Nabin (Bihar)
- Shivesh Kumar (Bihar)
- Terash Gowalla (Assam)
- Jogen Mohan (Assam)
- Lakshmi Verma (Chhattisgarh)
- Sanjay Bhatia (Haryana)
- Manmohan Samal (Odisha)
- Sujit Kumar (Odisha)
- Rahul Sinha (West Bengal)
BJP has selected these names from those states where the party or NDA alliance is in a strong position in the assembly. By fielding two candidates from Bihar, the party has given a clear indication that it wants to increase its presence and influence in this important state. What is the party’s strategy behind this decision? If we see, many things are being told through party sources behind this decision.
According to party sources, the main reason behind this and the biggest step is said to be sending Nitin Navin to Rajya Sabha from Bihar. By giving Naveen a seat in the Upper House of Parliament as party president, the BJP wants to ensure that its top leader can actively participate in parliamentary work, and national politics.
If seen, the seat of RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta is falling vacant in Bihar and NDA has sufficient numerical strength, hence this seat can be easily won by a strong candidate. The second strategy is to create regional balance. The party wants to give the message of strengthening the organization by giving place to local faces from BJP ruled states like Assam and Chhattisgarh.
Similarly, by fielding candidates in Odisha and West Bengal, BJP is trying to increase its penetration in the opposition states. There is a plan to take advantage of the experience by including an experienced leader like Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana. BJP is trying to correct the social equation by giving place to local, tribal and regional leaders, especially among women like Lakshmi Verma and others.
Overall, this list is also a part of the BJP’s broader strategy to increase its strength in the Upper House through the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections, so that the policies of the Modi government at the Center can be further strengthened.
According to BJP sources, this is the first list and the remaining names will be announced soon. Rajya Sabha elections are indirect, so everything will depend on the support of the MLAs. But considering the strong position of NDA, BJP is confident of winning most of these 9 seats.
On the condition of anonymity on this issue, a national spokesperson of BJP says that this decision is the decision of the party’s organizational thinking. He said that the party always involves the top leadership in all the decisions and currently the party president is not a member of the Parliament, hence it was necessary to include him in the parliamentary system, hence the party took this decision. He also claimed to have won all the 9 seats and termed the decision as a sign of preparation for the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections.