New Delhi, June 6: The Congress party has intensified its preparations for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections. Following the approval of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed senior leaders Bhupesh Baghel and Ajay Sharma as observers for Jharkhand.
This move is considered a crucial part of the preparations for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 18, 2026.
So far, the Congress has announced seven candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections across ten states. Mallikarjun Kharge formally filed his nomination from Karnataka on Friday, solidifying his candidacy.
The candidates announced by the Congress include Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, and Mansoor Ali Khan from Karnataka; Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh; Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu; Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan; and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.
Elections will be held for 24 biennial vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha, along with three by-election seats from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha. The last date for filing nominations is June 8, with scrutiny scheduled for June 9. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until June 11, and the counting of votes will take place on the evening of June 18.
Kharge’s current term in Karnataka ends on June 25. Based on the strength in the assembly, the Congress is confident of winning three out of four seats in the state.
Rajya Sabha elections are conducted under a single transferable vote system based on proportional representation, making political alliances and the number of legislators pivotal.
In Jharkhand, the Congress is the second-largest ally in the JMM-led coalition government, with 16 legislators in the 81-member assembly.
Recently, the party formed a 36-member political affairs committee to strengthen its organization in the state, which includes state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh and former minister Alamgir Alam.
Citing its number of legislators, the Congress has demanded one Rajya Sabha seat from the coalition, leading to Pranav Jha’s nomination. While the relationship between JMM and Congress remains cooperative, the Congress is also maintaining its independent political identity on issues like land acquisition, displacement, and mining.