New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced its list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, as well as the biennial Legislative Council elections in Karnataka for 2026.

For the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has nominated Mahesh Kewat from Madhya Pradesh and Prof Dr M Nagaraja from Karnataka.

In the Karnataka Legislative Council biennial elections, the party has selected Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya as its candidates.

Meanwhile, political activity intensified across the country as candidates vying for seats in the Upper House of Parliament officially filed their nominations, with the deadline for filing nominations for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections fast approaching.

The elections, scheduled for June 18, will see a contest for 24 seats across ten states, setting the stage for a significant recalibration of the legislative body.

The Election Commission had on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections for the 24 seats. The last date of filing nominations is June 8.

The 24 seats include four seats each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

From the BJP camp, party national general secretary Tarun Chugh and party leader Rajneesh Agrawal officially filed their nominations from Madhya Pradesh.

The filing process took place in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. (ANI)