BJP nominates Nitin Nabin for Rajya Sabha, drops five MPs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated  party chief Nitin Nabin for the Rajya Sabha, while dropping five sitting MPs across three states ahead of the March 16 Upper House polls.Announcing the candidates on Tuesday, the party said Nabin, currently an MLA in Bihar and appointed National BJP president in January, is set to enter the Rajya Sabha. His elevation was widely anticipated given his growing national profile. Alongside him, Bihar BJP General Secretary Shivesh Kumar has been named as the second candidate from the state.Five Rajya Sabha seats are going to polls in Bihar, where the JD(U)-BJP alliance is positioned to win four seats based on its numerical strength in the Assembly. The Janata Dal (United) is expected to contest two of the seats within the NDA quota.
In Assam, where the BJP can comfortably secure two seats, the party has dropped both sitting MPs former Union Minister Rameshwar Teli and senior leader Bhubaneswar Kalita. The party has instead fielded PWD Minister Jogen Mohan and MLA Terash Gowalla.In Odisha, sitting MP Sujeet Kumar has been renominated, while BJP state president Manmohan Samal has been fielded for the second seat, replacing Mamata Mohanta. Both Kumar and Mohanta were earlier members of the Biju Janata Dal before joining the BJP.From West Bengal, former state BJP president Rahul Sinha has been nominated for the lone seat the party is expected to win. While the All India Trinamool Congress is likely to secure four seats, the fifth seat previously held by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cannot be retained by it this time due to the absence of MLAs in the Assembly.In Haryana, the BJP has dropped its two sitting MPs  Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra  and nominated former Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Bhatia. The ruling party is expected to win one of the two seats in the state, with the second seat likely to go to the Congress based on the Assembly’s numerical configuration.Releasing the list, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh said the names had been approved by the party’s Central Election Committee.

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति ने विभिन्न प्रदेशों में होने वाले राज्यसभा के द्विवार्षिक चुनाव हेतु निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/38I3mo5KMb

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 3, 2026

The party is yet to announce candidates for Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. With the Opposition lacking numbers in Bihar and Assam to secure a seat each, it remains to be seen whether the BJP will field additional candidates in those states.