The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-election in Madhya Pradesh, necessitated by the resignation of former Union minister of state for information and broadcasting L Murugan.
The by-election for the vacant seat is scheduled to take place on November 12.
Puri's nomination comes as his current term as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh is due to end in November. The BJP did not renominate him from the state earlier this month, instead fielding eight new candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
Murugan resigned to focus on Tamil Nadu politics
The Madhya Pradesh seat fell vacant after Murugan resigned from both the Union Council of Ministers and the Rajya Sabha. His parliamentary term had been scheduled to continue until 2030.
In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Murugan said he wanted to concentrate on political activities in Tamil Nadu.
The vacancy prompted the BJP to nominate Puri for the by-election, providing him an opportunity to return to the Upper House as his existing term from Uttar Pradesh approaches its end.
Ten Rajya Sabha candidates elected unopposed in Uttar Pradesh
All 10 candidates contesting the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh were declared elected unopposed earlier this month. The group comprised eight BJP candidates and two candidates backed by the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Returning officer Ajit Kumar Verma confirmed the outcome after the withdrawal of nominations closed on October 9.
“All the 10 candidates, who were in the fray for the Rajya Sabha, have been declared elected. Friday (October 9) was the last date for the withdrawal of nominations,” an earlier Hindustan Times report quoted Verma as saying.
The eight BJP candidates elected unopposed were Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar.
The two SP candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha were Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani.
The BJP's decision to field eight new faces in Uttar Pradesh meant Puri was not included in its list for the state, even as the party nominated him for the Madhya Pradesh by-election.