Congress Releases List of Six Candidates for Upcoming Rajya Sabha Elections

The Indian National Congress on Thursday announced the names of six candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha Elections. The party has renominated Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Telangana and Phulo Devi Netam from Chhattisgarh. Both leaders are currently serving as members of the Rajya Sabha. The party has also nominated Karmveer Singh Boudh from Haryana and Anurag Sharma from Himachal Pradesh. Sharma currently serves as the president of the Kangra District Congress Committee and is considered close to the Chief Minister of the state, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. For the second seat in Telangana, the Congress has fielded V. M. Narendra Reddy, who is regarded as a close associate of the state’s Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has allocated a Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress as part of their alliance. The Congress has nominated M. Christopher Tilak from the state. During the same period, the Bharatiya Janata Party has announced the names of 13 candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections in two separate lists. These seats are becoming vacant as the terms of several members are coming to an end. The tenure of a Rajya Sabha member is six years. The current elections are being held for members whose terms will expire in April 2026. Earlier, on February 18, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states. Voting for these seats will take place on March 16. Among the 37 seats going to polls, 12 are currently held by the National Democratic Alliance, while 25 belong to the opposition parties. The highest number of seats up for election are in Maharashtra with seven, followed by Tamil Nadu with six, and West Bengal and Bihar with five seats each. The terms of several prominent leaders, including Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Athawale, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Tiruchi Siva, and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, will end on April 2. Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on March 16, while the counting of votes will begin at 5:00 p.m. on the same day.