Rajya Sabha polls: BJP releases second list of five candidates

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday (March 12, 2020) released its second list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for March 26. The ruling party has named its national vice president Dushyant Gautam from Haryana in its second list which was released on Thursday. Along with him, Ram Chandra Jhangra has also been named from the state of Haryana.

Among others, Indu Goswami has been named from Himachal Pradesh and Bhagwat Karar from Maharashtra. 

However, Madhya Pradesh sprung a surprise of sorts where the party has decided to field Dr Sumer Singh Solanki, as opposed to Harsh Chauhan, as speculated.

Earlier on Wednesday, the BJP had released its first list where it named nine candidates including the newly-inducted leader from Congress Jyotiraditya Scindia. It also allotted two seats to its allies, one each in Maharashtra and Assam, in its first list.

BJP general secretary Arun Singh said that the list of candidates was finalized in a meeting of the party`s Central Election Committee on Tuesday, which was chaired by party chief JP Nadda, and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior ministers and leaders.

In the 245-member Upper House, members from 17 states are set to retire. The BJP has only 82 members in the Rajya Sabha, well short of the 120 required for a simple majority. Though the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 97 seats.

Attaining the magic figures of 120 may not only be unpragmatic but also highly ambitious for the BJP. But it definitely wants to better its tally from the current 82.