Representative image. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, GODL-India, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The bypoll decides who represents Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha until April 2030 and whether a sitting Union minister keeps a seat in Parliament after his Uttar Pradesh term ends on 25 November. Ministers must be members of Parliament, or become one within six months, to stay in office. The withdrawal deadline of 5 November will show whether the state's MLAs need to vote at all.
The BJP has picked Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for the Rajya Sabha bypoll in Madhya Pradesh. The party’s Central Election Committee approved his name in a statement dated 28 October 2026, the news agency Asian News International (ANI) reported. Nominations close on 2 November, and if more than one candidate stays in the race, the state’s MLAs vote on 12 November.
The seat has been empty since 14 October, when the resignation of L. Murugan took effect. For Puri, the move offers a route back to Parliament’s upper house: his current Rajya Sabha term, from Uttar Pradesh, ends on 25 November 2026.
Why the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant
Murugan, then Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and for Parliamentary Affairs, announced on 13 October that he was quitting both the government and the Rajya Sabha. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a post on X, he said he wanted to work full time for the BJP in Tamil Nadu before the 2029 Lok Sabha election, The Wire and the Free Press Journal reported. “Nation First. Party Next. Self Last,” he wrote.
Murugan comes from Tamil Nadu but sat in the Rajya Sabha for Madhya Pradesh. He was elected from the state in April 2024, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI), and his term would have run until 2 April 2030. Whoever wins the bypoll serves only the rest of that term, a little under three and a half years.
Puri needed a new seat. On 5 October the BJP named eight candidates for the Rajya Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh and left him off the list, Business Standard and PTI reported. All 10 Uttar Pradesh seats were later filled without a contest, with the BJP taking eight and the Samajwadi Party two, Outlook reported on 28 October. Puri, a former diplomat, sits in the Rajya Sabha for Uttar Pradesh and heads the petroleum ministry, where he spoke on Russian oil imports on 27 October.
Rajya Sabha bypoll schedule, date by date
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the timetable in a press note on 22 October. NewsPlainly could not open the note on the commission’s website, so the dates below come from the copies carried by ANI and the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), which match each other and Deccan Chronicle’s report.
| Stage | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Vacancy | 14 October | Murugan’s resignation takes effect |
| Schedule announced | 22 October | ECI press note |
| Notification | 26 October | Nominations open |
| BJP names Puri | 28 October | Central Election Committee statement |
| Last date for nominations | 2 November | Papers need 10 MLAs as proposers |
| Scrutiny | 3 November | Returning Officer checks the papers |
| Last date to withdraw | 5 November | Field is final |
| Polling, if needed | 12 November | 9 am to 4 pm; counting from 5 pm |
| Process complete | by 16 November | ECI deadline |
Two details in the note matter for anyone following the Rajya Sabha bypoll. Voters must mark their preferences only with the violet sketch pen that the Returning Officer hands out, and any other pen is barred, IANS reported. The commission also said it would appoint observers to watch the process.
If only one valid candidate is left after withdrawals close on 5 November, there is no vote. Under section 53 of the Representation of the People Act, the Returning Officer declares that candidate elected unopposed. That happened in a Madhya Pradesh bypoll in August 2024: George Kurian was set to win the seat vacated by Jyotiraditya Scindia without a contest, PTI reported at the time.
The Assembly numbers behind the Madhya Pradesh vote
Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by MLAs, not by the public, so the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha result turns on the Assembly’s numbers. Madhya Pradesh has a 230-seat Assembly, and each MLA ranks candidates under the single transferable vote system. With one seat to fill, the winning mark (the quota) is simple: half the valid votes, plus one, ignoring fractions.
PTI reported on 26 October that 229 MLAs will be able to vote, because Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra of Vijaypur cannot take part following a court ruling. In March 2026 the Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside his 2024 bypoll win and then paused its own order so he could approach the Supreme Court, ANI and LiveLaw reported. PTI also said the vote of Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre, who says she is still in the Congress but has attended BJP events, is uncertain because an anti-defection case against her is pending.
| Figure | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly seats | 230 | PTI |
| MLAs able to vote | 229 | PTI, 26 October 2026 |
| Votes needed if all 229 are valid | 115 | NewsPlainly calculation |
| Votes needed if all 230 voted | 116 | NewsPlainly calculation |
| BJP MLAs, August 2024 | 163 | PTI |
| Congress MLAs, August 2024 | 64 | PTI |
Those party figures are more than two years old, so they need one update. The two seats empty in August 2024 were filled in bypolls that November: the BJP kept Budhni and the Congress won Vijaypur, The Hitavada reported. NewsPlainly did not find a newer official party-wise list of the Assembly. Even so, the BJP’s 2024 count on its own was well above the 115 votes a single seat now needs.
The state elects 11 members to the Rajya Sabha. With Murugan’s seat empty, the BJP holds seven and the Congress three, according to PTI. The reports read for this article, up to 28 October, did not say whether the Congress will put up a candidate.
What happens next in the Rajya Sabha bypoll
Puri has until 2 November to file his papers for the Rajya Sabha bypoll. Scrutiny follows on 3 November and the field is fixed on 5 November, which will show whether a vote is needed on 12 November. His Uttar Pradesh term runs until 25 November. The ECI has said the whole process must be finished by 16 November.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the BJP candidate for the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha bypoll?
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The BJP's Central Election Committee approved his name in a statement dated 28 October 2026, ANI reported.
When is the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha bypoll?
Polling, if needed, is on 12 November 2026 from 9 am to 4 pm, with counting from 5 pm. Nominations close on 2 November and the last date to withdraw is 5 November.
Why is there a Rajya Sabha bypoll in Madhya Pradesh?
L. Murugan resigned from the Rajya Sabha, and the vacancy took effect on 14 October. He said he wanted to work full time for the BJP in Tamil Nadu. His term was due to end on 2 April 2030.
How many votes are needed to win?
With 229 MLAs able to vote, as PTI reported, a candidate needs 115 valid votes, by NewsPlainly's calculation of the single-seat quota.