Ramdas Athawale meets Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis ahead Rajya Sabha election

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 4 (ANI): Union Minister and Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai ahead of Rajya Sabha elections.
On Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections, clearing nine names across six states. The announcement was made by the party's Central Election Committee from its New Delhi headquarters.
From Bihar, the party has nominated National President Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar. In Assam, the nominees are Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan. Laxmi Verma has been fielded from Chhattisgarh, while Sanjay Bhatia is the candidate from Haryana. Odisha will see Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar contesting on the BJP ticket, and Rahul Sinha has been nominated from West Bengal.
The Election Commission has scheduled polling for March 16, with counting to take place the same day at 5 pm. The entire election process will conclude by March 20.
The biennial elections will fill 37 seats across 10 states - Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana - where members' terms are set to expire in April 2026.
The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced four candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections: Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy, and Koel Mallick.
Babul Supriyo, a former Union Minister who later joined the Trinamool Congress, currently serves as Cabinet Minister of Information Technology and Electronics of the Government of West Bengal. Rajeev Kumar is a former Director General of Police of West Bengal. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy is known for her legal work in constitutional matters, while Koel Mallick is a prominent figure in the Bengali film industry.
Naveen Patnaik, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, earlier announced two candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
Patnaik announced Dr Santrupt Misra and Dr Datteswar Hota as the candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. (ANI)