Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan expressed gratitude to the party’s senior leadership and MLAs for entrusting her with the responsibility of contesting the Rajya Sabha elections, describing the polls as a fight for “democratic values”.

Speaking to ANI, Meenakshi Natarajan, who serves as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) In-charge for Telangana, said, “I thank all the senior leaders and MLAs of the party for giving me this opportunity. The Congress is ready to face all kinds of situations. This is a fight of democratic values.”

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections officially filed their nominations on Saturday from Madhya Pradesh. Among them were BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and party leader Rajneesh Agrawal, both contesting seats in the Upper House. The filing took place in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

After submitting his nomination, Rajneesh Agrawal expressed his appreciation for the party’s trust, stating, “I repeatedly express my gratitude to the central leadership, the state leadership, the national president, and everyone. This leadership takes decisions under a process.”

Tarun Chugh commented on his nomination, saying, “We are soldiers of the party; this is a party directive, and we are fulfilling it as party workers.” He also added, “I am deeply grateful to both the national leadership and the leadership in Madhya Pradesh. They have showered us with such abundant blessings.”

On June 3, the Election Commission issued a notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats across ten states. These 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. Notifications were also issued for Rajya Sabha bypolls for one seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

Congress has announced seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. This list features party chief Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka, along with Mansoor Ali Khan and Pawan Khera from Karnataka. Meenakshi Natarajan has been nominated from Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Neeraj Dangi is contesting from Rajasthan, Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu, and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.