BJP leaders Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal filed their Rajya Sabha nomination papers in Bhopal on Saturday.
Voting for three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh is scheduled for June 18, with nominations closing on June 9.
Congress has nominated Meenakshi Natarajan, while speculation continues over a possible third BJP candidate.
BJP's Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agrawal File Rajya Sabha Nominations From Madhya Pradesh
The BJP candidates filed their nomination papers in Bhopal ahead of the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections, while Congress has fielded former MP Meenakshi Natarajan.
Summary
BJP leaders Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal on Saturday filed their nominations for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh, formally launching the party’s bid for two of the three seats that will go to polls on June 18.
The nominations come as the BJP enjoys a comfortable majority in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, placing it in a strong position to win two seats in the biennial elections. The BJP has fielded Chugh and Agrawal for the polls, while the Congress has nominated former MP Meenakshi Natarajan. Voting is scheduled for June 18, while the last date for filing nominations is June 9.
Chugh, the BJP’s national general secretary, and Agrawal, the party’s Madhya Pradesh state secretary, submitted their nomination papers at the Assembly complex in Bhopal on Saturday afternoon in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and senior party leaders, according to PTI.
Before filing the nominations, the BJP held a meeting of its MLAs at the party’s state headquarters in Bhopal. Chief Minister Yadav, BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal and the two Rajya Sabha candidates attended the meeting, during which party leaders discussed poll-related preparations and organisational coordination, PTI reported.
After the meeting, Yadav, Khandelwal and the candidates offered prayers at the Shiva and Hanuman temples located within the BJP office premises. The leaders later proceeded to the Assembly complex in a convoy of more than 15 vehicles to file their nomination papers, reported PTI.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 164 MLAs and is comfortably placed to secure two of the three Rajya Sabha seats. The Congress has 64 members in the House, while one seat is held by the Bharat Adivasi Party and another Assembly seat is vacant.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and state minister Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday fuelled speculation over the possibility of the party fielding a third candidate. He said the BJP would make all efforts to ensure victory if it decided to field one.
(With inputs from PTI)
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