The Bharatiya Janata Party has named its national president Nitin Nabin, Union minister Ramdas Athawale and party general secretary Vinod Tawde among its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, announcing nominees across seven states.
On Tuesday, the party announced nine candidates from six states, followed by four more from Maharashtra on Wednesday.
Nabin, who has been fielded from Bihar, is a five-time MLA from Bankipur and a minister in the Nitish Kumar government. The youngest national president in the BJP’s history, Nabin will have to resign from the Bihar Assembly if elected.
Alongside Nabin, the BJP has nominated Shivesh Ram, a former MLA and current Bihar BJP general secretary, as its second candidate from the state. He is the son of former BJP MP Muni Lal Ram.
There are five vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar. The ruling BJP and Janata Dal (United) are positioned to win two seats each, while the fifth seat will require three additional votes from the Opposition to secure a majority, The Hindu reported.
In Maharashtra, the party has named Athawale and Tawde along with Maya Chintaman Ivnate and Ramrao Wadkute as its nominees, ANI reported.
The terms of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra will end in April. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is poised to win six of the seven seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi has yet to finalise its candidate for the remaining seat.
The Nationalist Congress Party has indicated that Parth Pawar, son of late party chief Ajit Pawar, will file his nomination, The Hindu reported quoting unidentified party officials.
In Assam, the BJP has selected sitting MLAs Jogen Mohan, a minister in the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Terash Gowalla as its candidates.
From West Bengal, former state president Rahul Sinha has been nominated.
In Odisha, state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar have been fielded as candidates. Former Union coal minister Dilip Ray has also announced that he will contest as an independent candidate from the state, with the BJP indicating in-principle support, The Hindu reported.
In Haryana, the BJP has nominated Sanjay Bhatia, a former Lok Sabha MP and in Chhattisgarh, the party has fielded its state vice-president Laxmi Verma.
Elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are scheduled for March 16. Following these polls, another 34 vacancies are expected to arise in the Upper House over the remainder of the year.
The ruling NDA is poised to win around 19 seats in March. It currently holds 133 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. The BJP alone has 103, which is 20 short of the 123-seat majority mark, according to The Indian Express.
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