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  India   BJP fields Suresh Prabhu from Andhra Pradesh

BJP fields Suresh Prabhu from Andhra Pradesh

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : May 31, 2016, 3:07 am IST
Updated : May 31, 2016, 3:07 am IST

The BJP on Monday nominated railway minister Suresh Prabhu’s candidature from Andhra Pradesh to the Rajya Sabha, after ally TDP assured its support.

Railway Minster Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu. (Photo: PTI)
 Railway Minster Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu. (Photo: PTI)

The BJP on Monday nominated railway minister Suresh Prabhu’s candidature from Andhra Pradesh to the Rajya Sabha, after ally TDP assured its support. Mr Prabhu was earlier representing Haryana in the Upper House. BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe has been nominated from Maharashtra while from Uttar Pradesh, where crucial Assembly elections are scheduled by early next year, the saffron party nominated a Brahmin face, Shiv Pratap Shukla. Other BJP candidates are Vikas Mahatme from Maharashtra and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand. The BJP had on Sunday released the first list of 12 candidates. Elections for the 57 seats will be held on June 11 and Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations.

Among those who filed their nominations on Monday included Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and BJP national vice-president and party’s UP in-charge Om Prakash Mathur from Rajasthan for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. Along with Mr Naidu and Mr Mathur, Ramkumar Verma and Harsh Vardhan Singh also filed their nomination papers in the presence of chief minister Vasundhara Raje, party’s state president Ashok Parnami, members of the council of ministers and party MLAs. Mr Verma and Mr Vardhan are the “new faces” for elections to the Upper House from Rajasthan. Mr Vardhan is the grandson of former Speaker of Rajasthan Assembly Laxman Singh.

In Chandigarh, Union rural development minister Birender Singh filed his nomination papers from Haryana for Rajya Sabha polls.

With one day left for filing of nominations, lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who was suspended from the BJP, and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s eldest daughter Misa Bharti were among several candidates from different parties who submitted their papers.

RJD is supporting Mr Jethmalani’s candidature. JD(U)’s Ramchandra Prasad Singh also filed his nomination in Patna.

The other prominent candidates who filed their papers included Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi from Jharkhand and senior Congress leader Ambika Soni from Punjab. Three senior leaders of ruling BJD — Prasanna Acharya, Bishnu Das and N. Bhaskar Rao — filed their papers in Orissa.

Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 1 and the last date for withdrawal is June 3. The elections were necessitated as 55 members from 15 states are retiring between June and August.

One seat each from Rajasthan and Karnataka vacated by Anand Sharma (Congress) and Vijay Mallya (Independent) respectively will also go to polls.

Out of the total 57 seats, a majority of 14 each belong to BJP and Congress. While six members belong to BSP, five are from JD (U), three each from SP, BJD and AIADMK.

Two members each belong to DMK, NCP and TDP, while one member belongs to Shiv Sena. Mr Mallya was an Independent member who resigned on May 5.

While a maximum of 11 members are retiring from Uttar Pradesh, six seats each will go to polls from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

From Bihar, five seats will go to polls, four each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each are from Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. One seat from Uttarakhand will also go for poll.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi