Madhav rules out contesting RS polls, says will work as karyakarta

After much speculation that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav would be fielded from Andhra Pradesh in the biennial election for the Upper House, the senior party leader announced that he was in no mood to contest the polls but work as a karyakarta to further strengthen the saffron party.

"I would like to serve the Bharatiya Janata Party in the capacity of general secretary, the post which has been given to me. These all are political buzz," Madhav told Millennium Post over speculation of him contesting the biennial elections. Madhav is the former member of the National Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The BJP on Monday nominated Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Andhra Pradesh, where he has been assured of the ruling Telugu Desam Part's (TDP) support, and would field noted journalist MJ Akbar from Madhya Pradesh and party vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe from Maharashtra for the biennial polls. Another general secretary Anil Jain was also a contender from a seat from Madhya Pradesh but Akbar was preferred.

At present, Prabhu represents Haryana in the Rajya Sabha, while Akbar Jharkhand. This time, the BJP has nominated Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand. 

Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman, who represents Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, has been fielded from Karnataka.

 

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who belongs to Andhra Pradesh, represents Karanataka in the Upper House. This time, he has been nominated form Rajasthan.

The BJP, which is on a high after its stupendous performance in the Jammu and Kashmir and Assam Assembly polls, is eyeing Uttar Pradesh, where the elections are scheduled the next year. The party has fielded a Brahmin face and senior UP leader Shiv Pratap Shukla from the state. Shukla is the vice-president of Uttar Pradesh BJP unit.

On Sunday, the BJP had released its list of 12 candidates from nine states for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, including Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Chaudhary Birender Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The other candidates named are – Om Prakash Mathur, Harsh Vardhan Singh, Ram Kumar Verma, Purushottam Rupala, Anil Madhav Dave, Ramvichar Netam and Gopal Narayan Singh.

Elections for the 57 seats will be held on June 11 and Tuesday is the last date for filing the nominations. By-poll for one seat in Gujarat will also be held the same day. It fell vacant, following the death of Congress member Pravin Rashtrapal.