Bjp Rajya Sabha Candidates: BJP to contest 2 Bihar Rajya Sabha seats, Nitin Nabin to make Parliament debut | India News
New Delhi: BJP national president Nitin Naveen is set to make his Rajya Sabha debut from his home state of Bihar, with the party naming him as one of its nine candidates for polls in 37 seats across 10 states, including several first-timers but with considerable organizational experience.With the BJP naming both candidates from Bihar’s quota, with Shivesh Kumar – a Dalit who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Sasaram – being the second nominee, suspense is building over the JDU’s choice, amid indications that it will repeat Union minister Ram Nath Tagore while no name has been officially announced but could exclude RS deputy Haswan Chatwar.
A strong section within the JDU is rooting for Nishant Kumar, party president and son of CM Nitish Kumar, whose nearly five-decade public career has been marked by opposition to dynastic politics but is facing pressure to bow to party workers’ demands amid concerns in some quarters about his health.Ram Nath Tagore, son of noted socialist leader Karpuri Tagore, and former journalist Harivansh are both in the RS for two consecutive terms.Upendra Kushwaha is set to repeat as the NDA candidate for the fifth seat, for which opposition parties may be forced to contest despite their confidence in his winning ruling coalition based on his perceived numerical advantage due to lack of unity among his rivals.Naveen, an upper-caste Kayastha and a fifth-term legislator from Bihar, will enter Parliament for the first time, a move that will strengthen his presence in national politics.Meanwhile, the BJP has two of its Assam MLAs – Teresh Gowala and Yogen Mohan – from the constituency, former LS MP Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana and its Odisha president Manmohan Samal and its former West Bengal president Rahul Sinha from West Bengal. Bhatia made way from Karnal for former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is now a Union minister.Outgoing Odisha MP Sujit Kumar, who left the BJD after the state assembly elections, is the only BJP candidate in the list. It is yet to release its list for Maharashtra, where seven seats are lying vacant and the ruling coalition is set to get six seats. Lakshmi Verma, a Kurmi and someone who has worked her way up the ranks of the party in Chhattisgarh, is the only woman candidate on the BJP’s list.BJP workers said the list is full of seasoned organizational hands which underscores the leadership’s decision to groom a new crop of members for key posts.
