Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Mahesh Kewat also entered the fray soon after Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan filed her nomination on Monday (June 8, 2026), confirming an intense contest for one of three Rajya Sabha seats going to poll on June 18.

The name of Mr. Kewat, an OBC leader from the Bundelkhand region and chairperson of the State’s Fishermen Welfare Board, was announced late on Sunday after rounds of meetings of top State BJP leaders in Bhopal over the weekend and a nod from the party’s national leadership.

The BJP’s move pushed the Congress into alert mode with Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar hosting party MLAs and senior leaders over dinner at his residence and to discuss the election strategy. A senior party leader, present at the dinner meeting, said options such as moving the MLAs to a Congress-ruled State like Karnataka or Telangana are being considered and a report will sent to the national leadership. “Talks about moving MLAs to either Bengaluru or Hyderabad are going on as about 20 of them have said that they have received communications from the BJP with offers,” the leader said, requesting anonymity.

The three seats that are going to fall vacant from Madhya Pradesh are currently held by Union Minister George Kurien, BJP MP Sumer Singh Solanki and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

Poised to secure two seats, the BJP has around 48 MLA votes to spare, 10 short of the required minimum votes for one seat — 58. The party earlier announced national general secretary Tarun Chugh and State unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal as candidates for two seats.

The Congress currently has 62 legal votes, just enough to secure one seat. The announcement of Mr. Kewat’s candidature prompted Congress leaders to accuse the BJP of trying to indulge in horse-trading while also asserting that all of its MLAs were backing Ms. Natarajan, a former Lok Sabha member considered close to party leader Rahul Gandhi.

M.P. Congress chief Jitu Patwari alleged that the BJP’s stance on the women’s reservation in Parliament and legislatures was “hollow”. “The BJP had called a special session [of Parliament and the State Assembly] a few days ago but today when a woman has got an opportunity from the Congress, it fielded the third candidate despite having less than required numbers,” he said after accompanying Ms. Natarajan during her nomination.

‘Battle of ideology’

Ms. Natarajan, who is also Congress’s Telangana in-charge, dubbed the election a fight between “Gandhian ideology and the BJP’s divisive politics”. “The BJP has fielded its third candidate and now this is a battle of ideology for us as well as for democratic and constitutional values. This is a fight for dignified politics. We will fight with unity and win,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav termed Mr. Kewat’s candidature an effort to provide representation to OBC communities. Various other senior BJP leaders expressed confidence that the party will win all three seats, while denying charges of horse-trading.