Arun Jaitley to contest Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh: BJP

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh while Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will do so from Madhya Pradesh.Jaitley is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and Pradhan from Bihar.The BJP on Wednesday announced the names of seven Union ministers and one general secretary for the upcoming RS polls in various states. Apart from Jaitley and Pradhan, the other five will contest from the same states they were elected from last time.

Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot will contest from Madhya Pradesh, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar and J P Nadda from Himachal Pradesh. Parshottam Rupala and Manusukh Mandaviya will contest from Gujarat. Bhupender Yadav, the party’s general secretary, will again contest from Rajasthan.Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Bhimrao Ambedkar filed his nomination on Wednesday. The party had on Tuesday announced his name.

Mayawati had earlier slammed the “casteist media, guided by the BJP” for  reporting that she would send her brother Anand Kumar to the Rajya Sabha.The term of 58 Rajya Sabha members from 16 states will end in April-May. Polls for the seats to fall vacant will be held on March 23. The polls are significant for the BJP which hopes to increase its tally in the Upper House, where it has a current strength of 58 out of total 250 members. The maximum 10 seats are from Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP registered a spectacular victory in last year’s Assembly elections. The party is assured of at least eight seats from the state.