Rajya Sabha elections: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha from Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Monday (July 10). Gujarat BJP general secretary Pradeep Singh Vaghela said that Jaishankar would file his nomination papers around noon on Monday, reported news agency PTI.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats in three states – Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal – to be held on July 24. The counting of votes will take place on the same day. The last date for filing nominations is July 13 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is July 17.
Jaishankar’s tenure will end on August 18
The election was necessitated as Jaishankar’s term would end on August 18 along with two other Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat, Jugalsinh Lokhandwala and Dinesh Anavadiya. Although the BJP has not officially announced the names of candidates for the three Rajya Sabha seats, Jaishankar’s nomination was certain.
Jaishankar took oath as a cabinet minister in the government in 2019. He was then nominated to the Upper House for the seat vacated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Congress had said it would not field candidates for the three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat as it does not have enough MLAs in the 182-member assembly. Notably, out of 11 Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat, eight are currently held by the BJP and the others by the Congress.
10 Rajya Sabha members are retiring
According to a statement issued by the Election Commission, the 10 members are retiring between July 28 and August 18 on completion of their six-year term in the Upper House.
Six Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sushmita Dev, Shanta Chhetri and Sukhendu Shekhar Ray and Congress member Pradip Bhattacharya are retiring from West Bengal on August 18. Election will also be held on one seat in Goa. The tenure of BJP MP Vinay D Tendulkar will end on July 28. Jaishankar, Dinesh Jemalbhai Anavadia and Lokhandwala Jugal Singh Mathurjee are the three BJP MPs from Gujarat whose term ends on August 18.
Also read: Election for 10 Rajya Sabha seats on July 24; Others including Jaishankar are in the fray
(with inputs from agencies)