The BJP on Wednesday released its first list of Rajya Sabha candidates for polls to be held on March 26, with newly inducted former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on the list .
Mr. Scindia has been nominated from Madhya Pradesh but the party is yet to announce a second candidate from the State. The list had names of nine candidates including Union Minister and Republican Party of India’s (RPI) Ramdas Athawale from Maharashtra, former Congress leader Bhubaneswar Kalita and Biswajeet Daimary of the Bodo People’s Front (and NDA ally) from Assam and Udayan Raje Bhonsle, who had come over from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from Maharashtra. Vivek Thakur, son of former Union Minister C.P. Thakur, and Deepak Prakash, president of the Jharkhand BJP, have been nominated from Bihar and Jharkhand respectively.
Former Minister in the Vasundhara Raje-led government Rajendra Gehlot has been nominated from Rajasthan. A second list is expected soon, with two nominations from Gujarat, one from Himachal Pradesh and one each from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. The last date for filing nominations is March 13.
