RS polls: Congress, BJP candidates file nomination papers in Rajasthan

Congress and BJP candidates filed their nomination papers on Friday for the Rajya Sabha elections in the Rajasthan Assembly.

The Congress had named All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) general secretary Neeraj Dangi, whereas the BJP had named Rajendra Gehlot as its candidate.

Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Omkar Singh Lakhawat surprisingly also filed his nomination paper on one seat, saying he filed it following the directions from the party.

The biennial elections for Rajya Sabha will be held on three seats in the state.

The Congress has fielded two candidates and the opposition BJP has named one candidate.

Venugopal said he is thankful to the party high command and Congress leaders of the state for showing trust on him.

"I will raise the issues of Rajasthan in Rajya Sabha," Venugopal told reporters.

On the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, he said the Congress is dealing with the challenge and will be successful in coming out the crisis.

BJP's Gehlot blamed the Congress government in the state for its failure on all fronts.

"I will strongly raise the issues related to development of the state in the Rajya Sabha," he said.

The Rajya Sabha seats, presently held by Ram Narain Dudi, Vijay Goel and Narayan Lal Panchariya, all from the BJP, are going to be vacated next month after completion of their term.

Scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 16 and nominations can be withdrawn by March 18.If necessitated, polling will take place on March 26, from 9 am to 4 pm.

Rajasthan has a total of 10RajyaSabhaseats and nine from those seats, including three whose tenure is going to complete next month, are from the BJP.

The Congress's only RajyaSabha MP from Rajasthan is Manmohan Singh, who was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypolls held last year after the seat fell vacant following the demise of BJP's RajyaSabha MP Madan Lal Saini, who was also the party's state president.

The Congress, which came to power in December 2018, has a total of 107 MLAs in the house of 200 and the BJP has 72 MLAs.