Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma met with the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidates from Rajasthan — Dr Satish Poonia and Smt Alka Gurjar — at the BJP State Office on Monday, June 8, 2026, ahead of their formal nomination filing, offering them his greetings and best wishes.

Context

In a post on X, Sharma wrote: 'आज भाजपा प्रदेश कार्यालय में राज्यसभा चुनाव हेतु राजस्थान से भाजपा प्रत्याशी... से नामांकन से पूर्व आत्मीय भेंट कर उनका अभिनंदन किया तथा शुभकामनाएँ दीं' ['Today at the BJP State Office, I met warmly with the BJP candidates for the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan ahead of their nomination and congratulated and wished them well']. The meeting was attended by senior party leadership, underlining the significance the BJP attaches to the Rajya Sabha nominations from the state.

Also present at the occasion were BJP Rajasthan State President Madan Rathore, Organisation General Secretary Ajay Bjp, and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, along with senior party office-bearers, elected representatives, and workers.

Policy Backdrop

Rajya Sabha elections are conducted through votes cast by members of the state legislative assembly, making the ruling party's assembly strength the decisive factor. Since the BJP's decisive victory in the Rajasthan Assembly elections in December 2023, the party has held a comfortable majority in the state legislature, positioning it to secure Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

Pre-nomination meetings of this kind are a standard feature of BJP's internal process, designed to project unity, ensure party discipline among MLAs, and formally introduce candidates to the wider party machinery before the nomination process begins.

Stakeholders and Impact

Dr Satish Poonia, a senior BJP leader who previously served as the Rajasthan state party president, is among the candidates being fielded. Smt Alka Gurjar is the second candidate from the state. Their nomination to the Rajya Sabha would strengthen the BJP's presence in the upper house of Parliament.

The presence of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat — a prominent BJP figure representing Jodhpur at the Centre — signals that the party's central leadership is closely coordinating with the state unit on the Rajya Sabha exercise.

What's Next

Following this pre-nomination meeting, both candidates are expected to formally file their nomination papers in the coming days. The next key milestone will be the voting by Rajasthan MLAs, which will formally determine the elected Rajya Sabha members from the state. The BJP's strong assembly majority makes the election of its declared candidates highly likely, barring any cross-voting.