RS Polls: BJP releases list of nine candidates; Shibu Soren, Sharad Pawar file nominations
New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday named Jyotiraditya Scindia as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh as it released a list of nine nominees for the election to 55 seats in the Upper House across 17 states on March 26. Scindia's name was announced by the party hours after he joined it in the presence of its president J P Nadda.
Other candidates named by the BJP included Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam, Vivek Thakur from Bihar, Udayanraje Bhosale from Maharashtra and Rajendra Gehlot from Rajasthan.
Abhay Bhardwaj and Ramilaben Bara from Gujarat, Deepak Prakash from Jharkhand and Leishemba Sanajaoba from Manipur were also named by the party as its Rajya Sabha nominees. Prakash is the state party president.
The BJP also said that it has allotted two seats to its allies with Dalit leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale getting renominated from Maharashtra and Biswajit Daimary of Bodoland People's Front to contest from Assam.
Almost all these candidates are certain to enter Rajya Sabha as the BJP has numerical strength in the respective assembly to ensure their win.
Earlier on Wednesday, Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections filed their nomination papers on Wednesday. The two - Dinesh Trivedi and Subrata Bakshi - filed their papers at the state legislative Assembly.
Two other TMC candidates Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor did not file their papers on Wednesday as some formalities were yet to be completed but they will file nomination papers soon, a TMC leader said.
Meanwhile, Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday said it would field Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and MP Ram Nath Thakur, whose terms end next month, for the upcoming election to the Upper House.
JMM president Shibu Soren on Wednesday filed the nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also on Wednesday filed his nomination here for the March 26 Rajya Sabha election.
The former Union minister filed his nomination in the Vidhan Bhavan complex here. He was accompanied by NCP leaders from the state.
NCP leader and former minister Fauzia Khan, who was expected to file her nomination along with Pawar on Wednesday, is likely to do so on Thursday.
The four candidates of the ruling YSR Congress filed their nomination papers for the biennial election to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.
Deputy Chief Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, industrialist Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy and Reliance Industries Limited Senior Group President Parimal Nathwani filed their nominations with Legislature Secretary and Returning Officer Balakrishnamacharyulu.
Additionally, Four BJD candidates on Wednesday filed their nomination papers for the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha.
Subhas Singh, Munna Khan, Sujit Kumar and Mamata Mahanta submitted their nomination papers to the returning officer in the presence of BJD chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
