Rajya Sabha polls: A look at major BJP candidates

The BJP has fielded 28 candidates, including 8 Union ministers. While most were elected unopposed, a few are locked in a contest in UP, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. The voting takes place on Friday. There are several new faces and they come from varied backgrounds

Anil Baluni (Uttarakhand)

The 45-year-old head of BJP’s media cell is a former journalist. A wildlife enthusiast, he was officer on special duty to RSS veteran Sundar Singh Bhandari who was Gujarat governor between 1999 and 2003. Baluni was closely involved with PM Modi’s campaign in Varanasi, and Amit Shah brought him last year to handle the media outreach

GVL Narsimha Rao (UP)

Spent many years in Delhi as a professional psephologist. With an understanding of political data, he worked closely with Narendra Modi’s team during 2007 and 2012 Gujarat elections, and also served as media adviser to MP CM Shivraj Chouhan. Rao helped LK Advani during his prime ministerial bid in 2009

Narayan Rane (Maharashtra)

A former Shiv Sena leader and an ex-chief minister of Maharashtra, Rane quit the Congress party in September last year. He figured in the BJP’s list of Rajya Sabha candidates even without publicly joining the party. A Maratha stalwart, Rane had been critical of PM Modi in 2014 and was also embroiled in the Adarsh housing society scam

Saroj Pandey (Chhattisgarh)

The 50-year-old is a former Lok Sabha member, who holds the distinction of holding the post of a mayor, a legislator, and a parliamentarian at the same time. She holds the record for being mayor of Durg for 10 years. Interior decoration is one of her hobbies. She is locked in a battle with a Congress candidate, but has an edge

Kirodi LaI Meena (Rajasthan)

A member of Rajasthan assembly, he returned to BJP after 10 years and, within hours, was declared as party party candidate for RS. The 66-year-old is a five-time MLA who quit the party in 2008 to join the National People’s Party (NPP). He was a bitter critic of CM Raje but mended fences ahead of this year’s assembly election

Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Karnataka)

The industrialist-politician got elected to RS, as an independent candidate. He is an alumnus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and Harvard University, Boston. He founded BPL mobiles in 1994 and is promoter of media ventures, including the Republic TV.