Overview
- The Election Commission formally opened nominations on Monday, June 1 for 27 Rajya Sabha seats and multiple legislative council contests with nominations due June 8 and polling set for June 18.
- BJP leaders held high‑level meetings at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence and the party’s Central Election Committee cleared a list of candidates for Maharashtra council contests late on May 31.
- The ruling Mahayuti alliance agreed a seat‑sharing deal for 17 Maharashtra MLC seats with the BJP allotted 11 seats, Shiv Sena four seats, and the NCP two seats.
- Around 40 candidates filed nomination papers in Maharashtra by the June 1 deadline, including industrialist Arun Lakhani and the BJP’s Nagpur bypoll nominee Dr Rajiv Potdar.
- National candidate selection is ongoing for the Rajya Sabha, with the BJP widely reported to be likely to renominate Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and weighing state‑level names that will affect Rajya Sabha arithmetic and local election strategies.