The BJP on Thursday announced the candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in five states, fielding the party’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh from Madhya Pradesh and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan.
The names of Union Ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian did not appear in the list of BJP candidates. The terms of the two ministers in the Senate expire on June 21.
While Bittu is a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, Kurian currently represents Madhya Pradesh in the Senate.
The BJP Central Election Commission has appointed Debashish Samantray as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Odisha.
Samantaray recently joined the BJP and left the BJD. He was a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Odisha before leaving the party and resigning from the Senate.
According to the list released by the party, Raghubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghbhai Kanzaria will contest as BJP candidates from Gujarat, while Rajneesh Agrawal will join the fray from Madhya Pradesh.
Alka Gurjar and Satish Poonia will contest as BJP candidates from Rajasthan.
The party has fielded Sharda Devi as its candidate from Manipur and Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh, according to the list released by the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh.
Rajya Sabha elections will be held in 10 states including Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Manipur on June 18. The Lok Sabha elections from Odisha will also be held on the same day.
