The ruling BJP in Haryana is facing a problem of plenty while strategising for two Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant from the state and up for grabs in the March 16 biennial elections to the Upper House.Terms of Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are ending in April, necessitating the election for the two seats.Top BJP sources said central leaders had received a panel of around seven names from the state unit for consideration.Sources said Kuldeep Bishnoi, a former two-term Lok Sabha MP and ex-four-term Haryana MLA; another ex-MP Sanjay Bhatia; and Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli were among the probables.”Just as the party had nominated Kiran Choudhry, a former Congress leader who had joined the BJP, there is a probability that Bishnoi may be considered this time. The list of probables has other names too,” the sources said.Kiran Choudhry is expecting a renomination, as is Jangra, but that is unlikely, say sources.A senior BJP leader today added that the party might also consider sending Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana because his term is ending in June and he has to be renominated, being part of the Council of Ministers.Bittu was previously elected unopposed to the Upper House from Rajasthan.”Politically, the BJP might think of nominating Bittu to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana and send a message of solidarity to the Sikhs of both states — Haryana and Punjab. This strategy does not look improbable given Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s aggressive Sikh outreach over the past few months,” said a BJP source, adding that the move could have political utility ahead of the 2027 Punjab polls.Saffron party leaders also said if a decision was taken to field a leader from the Scheduled Caste segment, former Sirsa MP Sunita Duggal and former Pataudi MLA Satya Prakash Jaravata could be considered.Another source added that the name of Sanjay Bhatia was also among those on the panel sent by the state.A final call on the candidates will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs.March 5 is the last date for the filing of nominations.Of the two RS seats falling vacant from Haryana, the BJP and the Congress are expected to win one each.Haryana has a 90-member Assembly and in the state a candidate to win needs 31 first-preference votes of MLAs. The Congress has 37 MLAs in the Haryana Assembly and the ruling BJP has 48.


