BHOPAL/BJP candidates Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal on Saturday filed their nominations for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh.
The two candidates submitted their papers at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Dewra, Minister and senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, and other party leaders.
Voting for the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state is scheduled for June 18, with the last date for filing nominations being June 8.
The BJP has fielded its national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal for the biennial polls. The Congress has nominated former Mandsaur MP Meenakshi Natarajan for the seat falling vacant with the retirement of senior leader Digvijaya Singh. The other two retiring members are BJP’s George Kurian and Sumer Singh Solanki.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the BJP holds a comfortable majority with 165 MLAs, while the Congress has 63. One seat is held by the Bharat Adivasi Party, and another remains vacant following the disqualification of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti from Datia.
On current numbers, the BJP is well-placed to win two seats comfortably, with the Congress expected to bag one. However, the Congress’s choice of Meenakshi Natarajan has reportedly caused some discontent within the party, fuelling speculation about possible cross-voting.
Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday stoked speculation about a third candidate, saying the party would make every effort to secure victory if it decides to field one.
With strong numbers, the BJP appears positioned to potentially make a bid for all three seats if sufficient cross-voting materialises.