New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of nine candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The most prominent name on this list is that of party national president Nitin Nabin, who has been fielded from Bihar.
The party’s most significant strategic move behind this decision is to send Nitin Naveen to the 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 debates, policy-making, and national politics.
The Election Commission issued a notification on March 16 for elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states, where the BJP is expected to gain a strong position due to its alliances and ruling states. The full list of candidates is as follows.
- Nitin Nabin (Bihar)
- Shivesh Kumar (Bihar)
- Terash Gowalla (Assam)
- Jogen Mohan (Assam)
- Laxmi Verma (Chhattisgarh)
- Sanjay Bhatia (Haryana)
- Manmohan Samal (Odisha)
- Sujit Kumar (Odisha)
- Rahul Sinha (West Bengal)
The BJP has selected these candidates from states where the party or the NDA alliance holds a strong position in the legislative assembly. By fielding two candidates from Bihar, the party has clearly indicated its desire to increase its presence and influence in this crucial state. Party sources are discussing the strategy behind this decision.
According to party sources, the primary reason and most significant step behind this is the promotion of Nitin Navin to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. By placing Navin 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.
In Bihar, the RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta seat is becoming vacant, and the NDA has sufficient numbers, so it can easily win this seat with a strong candidate. The second strategy is to create regional balance. By including local faces from BJP-ruled states like Assam and Chhattisgarh, the party wants to send a message of strengthening its organization.
Similarly, by fielding candidates in Odisha and West Bengal, the BJP is attempting to expand its presence in opposition states. The plan is to leverage the experience of experienced leaders like Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana by including them. The BJP is also attempting to balance social dynamics by including Lakshmi Verma, a particularly prominent woman, and local, tribal, and regional leaders in other positions.
Overall, this list is also 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 Centre 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 MLAs. However, given the NDA’s strong position, the BJP is confident of winning most of these nine seats.
A national BJP spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the decision reflects the party’s organizational thinking. He added that the party always involves the top leadership in all decisions, and since the party president is not currently a member of Parliament, it was necessary to include him within the parliamentary system, which is why the party took this decision. He also claimed to win all nine seats and described the decision as a sign of preparation for the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
