New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) Most of the 16 candidates announced by the BJP for the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections are new faces, who may not be well-known at the national level but have been associated with the party and its leaders for long.
The BJP has opted for these new faces from Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal etc who will enter the Upper House of Parliament for the first time ever.
Given the number of MLAs the BJP has in different state Assemblies, the victory of its candidates is a given.
Elections will be held for 55 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in 17 states in April.
These new BJP candidates are:
1. Dushyant Gautam (Haryana): He is at present the BJP vice-president. Even though he is a senior party leader, Gautam has got the party ticket for the first time. Born in Delhi on September 29, 1957, Gautam has held several important party posts during his political career, and was affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad during studies in the Delhi University. He has thrice been chief of the Scheduled Caste Morcha.
2. Ramchandra Jangda (Haryana): He has been fielded from Jharkhand. A resident of Meham in Rohtak district of Haryana, Jangda has thrice been the vice-president of state unit of the BJP. He joined the BJP after losing Assembly elections in 1991 in Meham and 2004 in Karnal. He lost the Gohana seat during the 2014 Assembly elections.
3. Indu Goswami (Himachal Pradesh): A resident of Kangra district of Himachal, Indu Goswami headed the state Women’s Commission during the BJP government led by Prem Kumar Dhumal in the hill state. She lost the Palampur seat during the 2017 elections.
4. Sumer Singh Solanki (Madhya Pradesh): He is a young tribal leader from the state, an assistant professor in Birwani’s Shaheed Bhima Nayak Government PG College’s History Department. Solanki has a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and is known for his work among the tribals.
5. Deepak Prakash (Jharkhand): He has been fielded from Jharkhand. Only last month, Prakash was made the chief of the state party unit. He is know to be close to former chief minister Babulal Marandi.
6. Abhay Bhardwaj (Gujarat): An advocate from Rajkot, he has fought many big cases on behalf of the state government, including the Gulburg Society killings in 2002, murder case of former MLA Jayant Bhanushali etc. A party leader maintained that since Bhardwaj was associated with the party for long, he has been rewarded with the BJP ticket for the Rajya Sabha elections.
7. Ramilaben Bara (Gujarat): Bara is vice-president of the BJP state unit and a tribal face of the party. A former MLA, she is the chair of Tribal Development Department. She had lost the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections.
8. Rajendra Gehlot (Rajasthan): He is vice-president of the BJP’s Rajasthan unit. He was a minister in the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in the past. A resident of Jodhpur, he was jailed during Emergency. He was also a returning officer for the BJP organisational elections.
9. Liyeseba Maharaja (Manipur): He has been chosen as the BJP candidate for the second Rajya Sabha seat from Manipur. He is a grandson of erstwhile Manipur king Bodhchandra. He has not been associated with any political party in the past, but is said to hold considerable influence in the northeastern state as scion of the erstwhile royal family.
–IANS
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