NEW DELHI: With bigwigs filing their nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections, which are scheduled for March 26, the battle has just intensified.
The Congress-JMM alliance in Jharkhand has named Shibu Soren as their Rajya Sabha pick.
The JMM chief, also called Guruji, is all set to become Rajya Sabha member for the third time as he filed his nomination on Wednesday.
Playing it safe, BJP on Wednesday declared state BJP president Deepak Prakash as its nominee for Rajya Sabha polls.
In Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, on Wednesday filed his nomination papers. However, the party is yet to field its second candidate.
“The three alliance partners (Sena-NCP-Congress) will sit together today or tomorrow morning and take a final decision. The second candidate will file papers tomorrow,” Pawar said.
Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections filed their nomination papers in West Bengal. The two — Dinesh Trivedi and Subrata Bakshi — filed their papers.
In Bihar, journalist-turned-politician Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur were named as JD-U’s nominees to the Rajya Sabha.
Harivansh has been deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha and is one of the renowned journalists of the country. He had worked for different media houses as senior journalist and editor.
In 2014, he was nominated by JD-U for the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He was elected as Deputy Chairman of the RS in 2018 as the candidate of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Ram Nath Thakur is the son of Bihar’s veteran socialist leader (late) Karpoori Thakur and he would serve the upper house for the second consecutive term from 2020.
The Congress is still undecided over its nominees from Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is expected to discuss with the Congress’ central leadership about the party’s nominees for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh.
“I will discuss about the nominees for the March 26 Rajya Sabha polls, as the last date of filing of the nominations is March 13,” he said.
Two Rajya Sabha seats in the state are falling vacant and both will go to the Congress, he claimed. Of the five Rajya Sabha members from Chhattisgarh, the terms of Motilal Vora (Congress) and Ranvijay Pratap Singh Judeo (BJP) will expire early next month.
Congress still undecided in Chhattisgarh
The Congress is still undecided over its nominees from Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is expected to discuss with the Congress’ central leadership about the party’s nominees for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh.