Old hands,1 turncoat: BJP names candidates for Rajya Sabha polls

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 4, 2026 07:10 PM IST

As many as 34 seats in the Rajya Sabha will go to polls due to the retirement of the sitting members. (File Photo, enhanced with AI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced 11 candidates for the upcoming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha which included both trusted party hands and recent entrant Biju Janata Dal (BJD) rebel Debashish Samantaray for a bypoll in Odisha.

In addition to two prominent women leaders — the BJP’s Manipur president A Sharda Devi and national general secretary Alka Gurjar — the list also included national secretary Tarun Chugh and Rajasthan strongman Satish Poonia.

BJP sources said these picks underlined the party’s commitment to rewarding loyal party hands who had dedicated their lives to the party and its organisation since their formative years.

On the other hand, Samantaray, who had quit the BJD and entered the BJP’s fold last month, was said to have been rewarded by being fielded for a bypoll from the state, further weakening the BJP’s longstanding former ally in Odisha.

As many as 34 seats in the Upper House will see retirements this year of which 19 belong to Uttar Pradesh; four each to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat, three to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively, two to Mizoram and one each from Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

The BJP currently has 113 members in the Upper House, with the NDA tally at 148 as part of the 245-member Rajya Sabha.

BJP leaders such as Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu, NDA constituent Janata Dal (Secular) chief and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda, opposition MP Digvijaya Singh and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will retire in June.

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Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, former Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh and Samajwadi Party stalwart Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav are scheduled to vacate their seats in November.

Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism.

Expertise

High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including:

The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls.

National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus.

Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities.

National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements.

Academic Credentials:

Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions.

Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More

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