Uttar Pradesh switch for Jaitley in Rajya Sabha polls

NEWDELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley will be BJP’s candidates from UP for the March 23 Rajya Sabha election, the party announced on Wednesday. The BJP has repeated seven out of eight union ministers whose term is ending in April. No decision has been taken on the fate of HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.

Jaitley is currently a member of the upper house of Parliament from Gujarat and he is being shifted to country’s most populous state where 10 seats will fall vacant. The BJP will win at least 8 out of these 10 seats.

Four seats – held by BJP leaders – are falling vacant in Gujarat, but the party can win only two of them. Junior ministers Mansukh L Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala, whose term is ending, have got ticket from Gujarat.

“Names of candidates for remaining seats will be announced after the meeting of the central election committee on March 9,” a BJP leader said.

Voting for 59 Rajya Sabha seats will take place on March 23.

Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad has got a ticket from his home state Bihar, while Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been shifted to Madhya Pradesh. A leader from Odisha, Pradhan made his maiden entry to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, but the BJP is short of number to ensure a ‘clear victory’ for the second seats. Six MPS, including Prasad and Prada, are retiring from Bihar. The JD(U) and the RJD will win two seats each while the BJP will get one seat. There will be contest for the sixth seat.

Health Minister JP Nadda (Himachal Pradesh) and Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot (Madhya Pradesh) have been repeated.

BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav will be party candidate from Rajasthan.

Javadekar was the only minister who did not find a mention in the BJP’s first list of candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. Javadekar is a leader from Maharashtra who currently represents Madhya Pradesh in the upper house. He is seeking a Rajya Sabha from his home state.

BJP general secretaries Ram Madhav, Anil Jain, Arun Singh, Uttarakhand BJP chief Ajay Bhatt, party spokesmen Sambit Patra and Anil Baluni, and party vice president Shyam Jaju are prominent among those whose name are doing the rounds for Rajya Sabha tickets from different states.