Railway minister Suresh Prabhu is also retiring from the Rajya Sabha and represents Haryana. The BJP has not yet named its second candidate from Haryana.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu is also retiring from the Rajya Sabha and represents Haryana. The BJP has not yet named its second candidate from Haryana.
Mr Goyal and Mr Naqvi will seek re-election from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, respectively. The BJP has also fielded party vice-presidents Om Prakash Mathur and Purushottam Rupala, who have been nominated from Rajasthan and Gujarat, respectively. The BJP has picked former state unit president Gopal Narain Singh as its the nominee from Bihar.
There was speculation that former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi could be its choice for the one seat in the state that it can win. Other nominees are Harsh Vardhan Singh and Ram Kumar Verma from Rajasthan, Anil Madhav Dave from Madhya Pradesh and Ramvichar Netam from Chhattisgarh.
With May 31 being the last date to file nomination, the party is set to announce the names of more candidates soon. The BJP is also likely to back general secretary Ram Madhav and vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe for nomination. The biennial polls are being held for 57 seats and 14 BJP members are retiring. The party is expected to win 18-19 seat due to its sizeable strength in states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Haryana.
“Thanks to the people of Karnataka and BJP Karnataka unit for their affection and support all these years. I will continue to support Karnataka at the Centre and provide all the assistance required as usual,” Mr Naidu tweeted.
