RS Polls: BJP surprises by fielding OBC academician Nagaraj as its candidate

Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra (right), with Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanswamy, (second from left), Ravi Kumar, MLC, (left), BJP Rajya Sabha candidate M. Nagaraja and party candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Council elections Lingataka (right) and left Raghutila (right) t Raghutila in the Bengaluru election on Sunday (June 8). | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Speculation over whether 93-year-old former prime minister HD Deve Gowda would get another chance to serve as a Rajya Sabha member ended with the BJP choosing OBC leader and academician M Nagaraj as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections held from Karnataka.

Name of Prof. Nagaraja, who has been associated with the RSS since his student days, was cleared by the party’s central election committee late on Sunday night (June 7, 2026). He also filed his nomination papers.

Hailing from Hubballi, Mr. Nagaraja has earlier served as ABVP state president, BJP state vice-president and Karnataka Public Service Commission member. He was also a state-appointed committee tasked with building office buildings in accordance with the party’s plan to have a party office in every district.

Mr. Nagaraj, who holds a PhD in Road Engineering, has been involved in teaching and research for 22 years.

Mr Gowda, who is the national president of the JD(S), had to rely on the support of his ally the BJP to fight the Rajya Sabha elections as his party did not have the required number of MLAs to ensure victory on its own. Sources in the BJP’s state unit claimed that Mr Gowda never formally sought another term in the Rajya Sabha, possibly because of his old age. “It was out of the question for the BJP to field another candidate if Mr Gowda wanted another term in the Rajya Sabha,” BJP sources said.

BJP which chose Prof. Nagaraja, is seen as part of the party’s political strategy to tap into the OBC vote bank in the Congress after its leader Siddaramaiah stepped down as chief minister.

The biennial election was necessitated by the June 25 exit of Mr. Gowda, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and BJP members Iranna Kadadi and Narayan Koragappa. The Rajya Sabha elections will be held on June 18.

MLC Surveys

Meanwhile, the BJP has also fielded Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya as its candidates for the upcoming Legislative Council elections from the Assembly constituency. It has not given tickets to any of its sitting MLCs who are retiring.

The biennial election is being held as the seven MLCs who were elected by the Legislative Assembly retire on June 30. The outgoing MLCs are Govindaraju (Congress), Naseer Ahmed (Congress), MTB Nagaraju (BJP), Prathap Simha Nayak (BJP), Thipgresspannappa (BJ)Sunallypura (BJ)Pranlypura Hariprasad (Congress).

Biennial elections for seven council seats will be held on June 18. The last day to file nominations for the MLC polls is June 11, while the MLA polls will be held on June 18.

Published – 08 Jun 2026 08:28 IST