NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday announced its national president, Nitin Nabin, as its candidate from Bihar for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections.Nabin, who hails from Bihar, took over the party presidency from Union minister JP Nadda in January. The BJP has also fielded former MLA Shivesh Kumar as a candidate from the state. Their names feature on the party’s first list, which also includes seven other candidates from five more states.In Assam, the nominees are Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan, while Laxmi Verma will contest from Chhattisgarh. Haryana’s candidate is Sanjay Bhatia. Odisha will have Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar, and from West Bengal, Rahul Sinha has been chosen to go to the Upper House.According to Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Sarangi, all candidates from the state representing the party-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will file their nominations on Thursday.The Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled for March 16, will fill 37 seats across 10 states — Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana — whose members’ terms end in April 2026.The election process formally began with the notification issued on February 26, while the deadline for filing nominations is Thursday. Candidates can withdraw their nominations by March 9.(With ANI inputs)
