The Congress party has intensified its preparations for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand. The party has appointed former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Ajay Sharma as observers for Jharkhand. This move is considered a crucial part of the Congress’ preparations for the Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled for June 18, 2026. The party has already announced seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in 10 states.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination from Karnataka on Friday, formally confirming his candidature. 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 biennially vacant Rajya Sabha seats and three by-elections in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.
The last date for filing nominations is June 8, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on June 9. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until June 11, and counting will take place on the evening of June 18. Kharge’s current term in Karnataka ends on June 25. Based on its strength in the Assembly, Congress is confident of winning three of the four seats in the state. Rajya Sabha elections are held on the basis of proportional representation under the single transferable vote system, so political alliances and the number of MLAs play a decisive role.
In Jharkhand, the Congress is the second-largest ally of the JMM-led coalition government. It has 16 MLAs 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 Mahato Kamlesh and former minister Alamgir Alam. Citing its number of MLAs, Congress had demanded a Rajya Sabha seat from the alliance and nominated Pranav Jha as its candidate. While the JMM and Congress maintain a cooperative relationship, the latter maintains its independent political identity on issues such as land acquisition, displacement, and mining.
