Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan and Thawar Chand Gehlot were among the candidates who filed their nomination papers for the March 23 Rajya Sabha elections in 16 States on Monday.
Mr. Jaitley, now a member of the Upper House from Gujarat, was among the 11 BJP nominees who filed their papers from Uttar Pradesh. Union Ministers Purushottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavia of the BJP filed their nominations from Gujarat.
Bihar slot for Prasad
Mr. Prasad joined the fray once again from his home State of Bihar.
Mr. Pradhan, a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, filed his papers from Madhya Pradesh this time. Mr. Gehlot too is contesting from Madhya Pradesh.
With 14 candidates, from Mr. Jaitley and other top leaders to an Independent, entering the fray for 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh, a contest is certain in the State.
Jaya Bachchan of the Samajwadi Party and Bhimrao Ambedkar of the Bahujan Samaj Party filed their nominations earlier, Returning Officer Poonam Saxena said.
High drama in Gujarat
The election of four members from Gujarat has become yet another political battle between the BJP and the Congress, both of which should get two seats each if the polls go uncontested. But there are six candidates for the four seats.
The BJP has fielded two outgoing members, Mr. Rupala and Mr. Mandavia, while the former State Minister Kiritsinh Rana is the third candidate. The Congress has fielded two official candidates: former Union Minister Naran Rathwa and party spokesperson and lawyer Amee Yagnik. Senior Congress leader P.K. Valera has filed his nomination as an Independent candidate with the party’s backing.
The last day of filing of papers witnessed some drama as news came that Mr. Rathwa’s nomination was technically defective and a senior national leader, Rajiv Shukla, was being rushed to file the nomination.
However, just 30 minutes before the deadline, Mr. Rathwa submitted his nomination papers and within minutes, Mr. Valera joined the fray as an Independent.
BJP candidates Bhupendra Yadav, Kirori Lal Meena and Madan Lal Saini filed their papers in Jaipur. Their win is certain, as the Congress has not fielded any official candidate.
Six candidates filed papers for five Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal in Kolkata. Four Trinamool candidates and one each from the Congress and the Left Front filed the papers in the Assembly.
The Trinamool, which has more than a two-thirds majority in the Assembly, can nominate all four members to the Upper House. The fate of the fifth candidate depends on its support.
Support for Singhvi
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress spokesman, filed his nomination with the support of the Trinamool. The Left Front has asked CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb to contest. Considering its strength in the Assembly, there is little chance of his win.
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda will win from Himachal Pradesh since no Congress candidate filed papers for the lone seat.
In Karnataka, L. Hanumanthaiah, Naseer Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekar (all Congress), Rajeev Chandrsekhar (BJP), and B.M. Farooq (JD-S) filed their papers.
M.P. Veerendrakumar, the LDF-backed Independent candidate, and Babu Prasad of the Congress filed their papers in Kerala.
In Andhra Pradesh, TDP candidates C.M. Ramesh and Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar filed their papers.
(With PTI inputs)
