

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, along with party leaders Pawan Khera, Meenakshi Natarajan, Praveen Chakravarty and Pranav Jha, is among the Congress candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
The party on Thursday announced seven candidates for the biennial elections and bypolls to the Rajya Sabha from five states.
Kharge, who currently serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been re-nominated from Karnataka. His term in the Upper House is set to end later this month.
Pawan Khera, Chairman of the Congress Media and Publicity Department, has been fielded from Karnataka. The party has also nominated Mansoor Ali Khan from the state.
Meenakshi Natarajan has been fielded from Madhya Pradesh, while Neeraj Dangi has been re-nominated from Rajasthan.
Praveen Chakravarty has been nominated from Tamil Nadu and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.
The Election Commission on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats. The last date for filing nominations is June 8.
Separately, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be in Bengaluru on Friday to accompany party president Mallikarjun Kharge during the filing of his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha.
According to a statement issued by the Karnataka Congress unit, Gandhi will be present with Kharge at Vidhana Soudha during the filing of nominations on Friday afternoon.
Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is completing his current term in the Upper House on June 25.