The Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board on Wednesday said party president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani will contest the Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat. The elections will be held on August 8.

Shah was elected MLA from Gujarat’s Sarkhej constituency in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2007. He was made the BJP chief after the party won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Irani, who is fielded for a second term, was appointed the Human Resources Development minister after the BJP took over at the Centre. She was made the Union textile minister in 2016. On July 18, Irani was handed charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after the party picked Venkaiah Naidu as the vice presidential candidate.

There are 11 MPs in the Upper House of Parliament from Gujarat. The terms of three MPs end on August 18 – BJP leaders Smriti Irani and Dilipbhai Pandya, and Congress leader Ahmed Patel. The BJP has not yet announced who its third candidate is going to be.

Patel, who is contesting a fifth term, filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha election from Gandhinagar on Wednesday.