BJP Fields Nitin Nabin for Rajya Sabha, Announces Nominees Across Six States

The ruling party has fielded its newly appointed national president from Bihar alongside eight other candidates from Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha and West Bengal, while keeping nominations pending in four states ahead of the March 16 polls.

The Wire Staff

bjp fields nitin nabin for rajya sabha announces nominees across six states

File photo of Rajya Sabha in the new parliament complex, New Delhi. Photo: PTI.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (March 3) nominated its national president Nitin Nabin as one of the party’s candidates from Bihar for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Along with Nabin, the party has also nominated eight other candidates from Bihar, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha and West Bengal. However, it is yet to announce its nominees from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh for the March 16 polls.

Nabin, a four-time member of the Bihar legislative assembly, took charge as the saffron party’s new national president on January 20. A political dynast, 45-year-old Nabin is the party’s youngest president and was elected with no other candidate even in the fray.

Five seats from Bihar are going to the polls in the Rajya Sabha. Along with Nabin, the party has also announced the candidature of Bihar BJP general secretary Shivesh Kumar as the second candidate. The BJP-Janata Dal (United) combine is considered likely to win four of the five seats in the fray due to its numerical strength in the Bihar assembly, following the alliance's victory in the state elections last November. However, it is not yet clear whether the saffron party, which has the highest number of MLAs in the Bihar assembly, will nominate a candidate for the fifth seat.

From West Bengal the BJP has nominated its former state party president Rahul Sinha. Five seats from the state are going to the polls. Trinamool Congress (TMC) nominated four candidates last week, including senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, minister Babul Supriyo, former Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar and actor Koel Mallick.

In Assam, too, BJP has looked to move leaders to Delhi and has nominated Jogen Mohan, a minister in the Himanta Biswa Sarma government and MLA Terash Gowalla, dropping sitting MPs Rameshwar Teli and Bhubaneswar Kalita.

In Odisha, the BJP has fielded its state unit president Manmohan Samal. The candidature comes after the BJP formed its first government in the state in 2024. The party has also picked sitting MP Sujeet Kumar from the state. Kumar who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) resigned from the party and joined the BJP in September 2024.

In Haryana, BJP has chosen former Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Bhatia, while from Chhattisgarh state unit vice president Laxmi Verma has been nominated.

This article went live on March third, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-five minutes past eight in the evening.

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