Rajya Sabha polls: BJP fields JP Nadda from Gujarat, Ashok Chavan from Maharashtra

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday fielded its national president JP Nadda for Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat and former Congress leader Ashok Chavan from Maharashtra.

The BJP's latest list of candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls has seven nominees; four for Gujarat and three for Maharashtra.

The other three BJP candidates from Gujarat are Govindbhai Dholakia, Mayankbhai Nayak and Dr Jashvantsinh Parmar.

Medha Kulkarni and Dr Ajit Gopchhade have been named as party candidates from Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Nadda, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh, is being fielded from Gujarat since the BJP does not have the numbers to win the lone seat in the Congress-ruled hill state.

Ashok Chavan joined the BJP on Tuesday, a day after quitting the Congress in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Earlier today, the BJP announced that it's nominating Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw from Odisha and L Murugan from Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming elections.

On Sunday, the BJP named 14 candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, including former Union Minister R P N Singh and party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi.

The last day for filing nomination papers is February 15. The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members.

Out of the total 245 members, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry Jammu and Kashmir (w.e.f. 31.10. 2019) 12 are nominated by the President.

Based on population, each state is allocated a certain number of candidates in the Upper House.

Members of the state legislative assemblies choose Rajya Sabha members through an indirect election system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27.

Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15.

The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27.

The Election Commission has announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April.