The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its National General Secretary and J&K & Ladakh in-charge, Tarun Chugh, as a candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh. The polls are scheduled for June 18, 2026.
Chugh has been nominated as BJP’s candidate from Madhya Pradesh where his win is certain.Born in Amritsar, Punjab, Chugh holds an MBA in Human Resources and began his political journey with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Over the years, he has emerged as a prominent figure in national politics.
He is credited with playing a crucial role in BJP’s 29-seat tally in the 2024 J&K Assembly elections. The BJP on Thursday announced candidates for upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in five states, fielding party national general secretary Tarun Chugh from Madhya Pradesh and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan.
Chugh’s nomination assumes significance as Punjab is scheduled to go to polls in 2027. Names of Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were absent from the BJP list though their RS terms will end on June 21.On Thursday the party announced the names of 10 candidates, including its national general secretary Tarun Chugh, for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 18 across 10 states.
The BJP has nominated Satish Poonia and Alka Gurjar from Rajasthan and Debashish Samantaray from Odisha. Samantaray recently joined the BJP after quitting the BJD. Sources said he may be given a responsibility either within the organisation or in the Union Cabinet. The BJP is certain to win all four seats from Gujarat for which it has announced candidates: Rajubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya.Rajneesh Agrawal will contest from MP. The BJP has also named A Sharda Devi from Manipur and Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh.
The Congress named seven candidates, renominating party chief Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka. The party also fielded its media and publicity department in-charge Pawan Khera from Karnataka along with Mansoor Ali Khan.
According to a communication from AICC general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal, the Congress has fielded Meenakshi Natarajan as its candidate in Madhya Pradesh. She was a former MP.
The Congress also fielded Praveen Chakravarty, its head of the Data Analytics and Professionals Wing, for the Rajya Sabha election from Tamil Nadu, besides renominating Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan.Pranav Jha, currently attached to the Congress president, has been nominated from Jharkhand. In Karnataka, the Congress is likely to win three seats while the BJP will get one. In MP and Rajasthan, the Congress will get one seat each going by their current numbers.
Rajya Sabha polls will be held in four seats each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, three seats each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two seats in Jharkhand and one seat each in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Besides, one seat each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will also go to the polls on June 18. The last date for filing of nominations is June 8, according to the EC.
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