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The BJP has announced its nominees for the 2025 Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Jammu and Kashmir. The candidates for the three vacant seats are:

• Ghulam Mohammad Mir – for one seat under Notification 01
• Rakesh Mahajan – for one seat under Notification 02
• Sat Pal Sharma – for two seats under Notification 03

The party’s Central Election Committee has officially approved these names for the upcoming polls.

BJP releases a list of candidates for the Biennial Elections to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/n0KiBQs6CF

— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2025

These elections are being held to fill seats that have been vacant since 2021, with voting scheduled for October 24, 2025. This marks the first Rajya Sabha by-election in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 and the implementation of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the official notification for the by-elections on September 24, 2025. All 90 members of the J&K Legislative Assembly will vote, and a candidate will need a majority of 46 votes to win. Nominations opened on October 3 and can be withdrawn until October 21. The four vacant seats arose after the retirement of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, and Nazir Ahmad Laway.

The by-elections will see a contest primarily between the BJP and the National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance. Under the alliance, NC has allocated one seat to Congress, though the party has not yet announced a candidate. Meanwhile, NC has fielded Chowdhary Mohammad Razzan, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, and Shammi Oberoi for three seats.

Farooq Abdullah was also reportedly considered for a Rajya Sabha seat but will not contest due to health reasons. Rajya Sabha by-elections are held biennially to fill one-third of the upper house seats.

Recently, Assam elected Kanak Purkayastha (BJP) and Birendra Prasad Baishya (AGP) to the Rajya Sabha, while Tamil Nadu elected M. Dhanapal (AIADMK), I.S. Inbadurai (AIADMK), S.R. Shivalingam (DMK), P. Wilson (DMK), and Kamal Haasan (MNM). Now, voting is underway to fill four seats in Jammu & Kashmir and one in Punjab.