BJP Releases First Rajya Sabha Candidate List 2026 — Party Chief Nitin Nabin to Contest From Bihar, 9 Names Across 6 States
For the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections to fill 37 seats across 10 states, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced its first list of candidates on March 3, 2026 — Holi day. The list includes many high-profile names, the most noteworthy being BJP National President Nitin Nabin. The elections are scheduled for March 16, and the counting of votes will conclude by March 20. Members of Rajya Sabha sit for staggered terms, meaning that every two years, one third of the members are elected. News24
The party announced the names of Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar from Bihar, Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan from Assam, Laxmi Verma from Chhattisgarh, Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana, Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar from Odisha, and Rahul Sinha from West Bengal.
Nitin Nabin is currently an MLA from the Bankipur Assembly constituency in Patna district. He was appointed a minister after the NDA formed the government following the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, but later resigned from the ministerial post after being appointed as BJP's national president. Shivesh Kumar previously contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Sasaram constituency but lost — his nomination to the Rajya Sabha is being seen as a strategic move by the party. There had been intense speculation that Bhojpuri film star Pawan Singh would be nominated by the BJP, but the party's announcement put all such speculation to rest.
Elections are scheduled on March 16 for five vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, with nominations to be filed by March 5. The outgoing members include Ramnath Thakur (JDU), Harivansh Narayan Singh (JDU), Upendra Kushwaha (RLM), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), and Amarendra Dhari Singh (RJD). According to current Assembly strength, NDA has 202 MLAs and winning one Rajya Sabha seat requires 41 votes. To win all five seats, 205 MLAs would be required. The ruling NDA alliance is considered certain to win four of the five seats, while the fifth seat could witness a contest.
The Election Commission of India announced that polling for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections will be held on March 16, with vote counting the same day at 5 PM, and the process concluding by March 20. The elections 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 notification was issued on February 26, commencing the election process, while the last date for nominations is March 5, scrutiny on March 6, and withdrawal by March 9.
Earlier, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced four candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections: Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy, and Koel Mallick setting up a multi-party contest particularly in West Bengal, one of India's most politically competitive states.
The Rajya Sabha election comes at a politically charged moment for India — with the Iran war's economic fallout, a T20 World Cup semi-final, and the Holi festival all dominating headlines simultaneously. BJP's decision to release its candidate list on a public holiday signals strategic intent, and Nitin Nabin's direct entry into the Upper House will significantly strengthen the party's ability to steer key legislation through Parliament in the coming years.
