Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 9 (ANI): Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress party hosted a dinner meeting at the residence of Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, former Urban Development Minister Jaivardhan Singh expressed confidence that all 62 Congress MLAs would vote for party candidate Meenakshi Natarajan. Highlighting that Natarajan is the only woman candidate fielded for the three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, Singh asserted that the election of a woman representative would be a positive development for the state.

'I am fully confident that when the voting takes place, all 62 MLAs will cast their ballots for Meenakshi Natarajan in favour of the Congress. Both the Congress and Madhya Pradesh will get a woman Member of Parliament. There are three Rajya Sabha seats up for election in Madhya Pradesh, and Meenakshi ji is the only woman candidate. Why is the BJP trying to snatch away the rights of a woman? Has the BJP become anti-women? If such a woman reaches the Parliament again, it will benefit the entire state of Madhya Pradesh,' Singh told reporters.

Following the meeting, Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar stated that the Congress party was finalising its strategy and was coordinating the process for legislators to cast their votes for the Upper House of Parliament.

'The Congress party is preparing its strategy and planning how the legislators will cast the vote...' Singhar told reporters.

The dinner meeting follows the Congress party's June 4 announcement of its candidates for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections.

The party has fielded Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, and Mansoor Ali Khan for Karnataka; Meenakshi Natarajan for Madhya Pradesh; Neeraj Dangi for Rajasthan; Praveen Chakravarty for Tamil Nadu; and Pranav Jha for Jharkhand.

The Election Commission issued a notification for biennial elections for the 24 Rajya Sabha seats on June 1.

The seats include four 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.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the scrutiny of nominations for these elections will be conducted by the concerned Returning Officers on June 9, 2026. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is June 11, 2026. For contested seats, polling will be held on June 18, 2026, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the counting of votes scheduled for 5:00 PM the same day. (ANI)