The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, 7 June 2026, announced Prof. (Dr.) M. Nagaraja from Karnataka and Mahesh Kewat from Madhya Pradesh as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections. The announcement comes days after the party released its first list of candidates for the polls scheduled on 18 June 2026.

In a statement, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh said the party's Central Election Committee had approved the nominations. The BJP also named Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya as its candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Council biennial elections.

The Rajya Sabha elections will be held for 24 seats across 10 states, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. A separate bypoll for one Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha is also scheduled on 18 June 2026.

In Karnataka, four Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant, including those currently held by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. The BJP has nominated M. Nagaraja for one of the seats up for election. Congress has re-nominated Kharge for another term in the Upper House.

In Madhya Pradesh, three Rajya Sabha seats are due for election. Mahesh Kewat joins BJP nominees Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal, completing the party's slate of candidates for the state. Kewat is expected to contest against Congress nominee Meenakshi Natarajan for the third seat.

The Karnataka Legislative Council elections, which will also be decided by elected members of the State Legislative Assembly, are scheduled to be held on 18 June 2026.

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