The BJP on Sunday released a second list of candidates for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha on March 23. The list has 18 names to be fielded from nine States. Eight of them are from Uttar Pradesh.
The party seemed to balance political considerations with reward for performance.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, entrepreneur, will be fielded from Karnataka after being elected to the Upper House as an Independent so far. As a reflection of the BJP’s ambitions in Kerala, V. Muraleedharan, a senior party leader in the State, will be fielded from Maharashtra.
The BJP’s media cell in-charge, Anil Baluni, has been fielded from Uttarakhand, and spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao from Uttar Pradesh.
Anil Jain, party general secretary in charge of States such as Haryana, has got the nod from Uttar Pradesh. Saroj Pande, general secretary handling Maharashtra, will be fielded from Chhattisgarh.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane has got the seat from Maharashtra, a sign that the party is not taking anything for granted in the State.
Sajal Deep Rajbhar got the nod from Uttar Pradesh, as a possible counterpoint to Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, a BJP ally, and Minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. The Minister has been turning rebellious of late. The BJP wants to nurture its own leadership in the Rajbhar community.
Kirori Lal Meena, who rejoined the BJP on Sunday morning, will be fielded from Rajasthan, which goes to the polls at the end of the year.
First list
In its first list, the BJP had declared that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be fielded from Uttar Pradesh, Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Bhai Mandaviya from Gujarat, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Madhya Pradesh and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar. Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar has been fielded from Maharashtra.
