Upendra Kushwaha nominated as NDA candidate from RLM for Rajya Sabha elections

Patna (Bihar) [India], March 3 (ANI): Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) on Tuesday announced the nomination of Upendra Kushwaha as National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The nomination is scheduled to be filed on March 5, according to an official release issued by the party's Bihar unit.
The announcement was made by Nitin Bharti, state spokesperson of RLM, who stated that Kushwaha's nomination was unanimously decided by the party leadership after detailed discussions.
"Upendra Kushwaha, a prominent leader associated with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), will file his nomination as the Rashtriya Lok Morcha candidate. All senior leaders of the party and its allies are expected to be present during this occasion," Bharati stated in the release.
Upendra Kushwaha is a prominent Indian politician from Bihar and the National President of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).
Earlier today, the 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.
Earlier, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had announced four candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls - Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has also named two candidates. Party president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, announced Dr Santrupt Misra and Dr Datteswar Hota for the upcoming elections.
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 notification was issued on February 26, commencing the election process, while the last date for nominations is March 5, scrutiny on March 6, and withdrawal by March 9. (ANI)