Chandigarh, June 5
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and a by-election, naming senior party leaders and several new faces across five states. Among the prominent nominees are BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh from Madhya Pradesh and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan.
Notably, the names of Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were absent from the party’s list. Both are currently members of the Rajya Sabha, with their terms ending on 21 June.
The BJP has also fielded Debashish Samantaray for the Rajya Sabha by-election in Odisha. Samantaray recently joined the BJP after leaving the Biju Janata Dal and had earlier served as a Rajya Sabha member from the state.
In Gujarat, the party has nominated Rajubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya. Alongside Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agrawal has also been nominated from Madhya Pradesh.
In addition, the BJP has named Alka Gurjar and Satish Poonia as its candidates for Rajasthan. The party has also fielded A Sharda Devi from Manipur and Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh. Rajya Sabha elections across 10 states, along with the Odisha bypoll, are scheduled for 18 June.
