BJP names Nirmala for K'taka RS seat; Goyal, Naqvi, Bajpayee among 16 BJP candidates; Azad not in Cong list

The Janata Dal (U) has denied Rajya Sabha (RS) nomination to Union Steel Minister RCP Singh, replacing him with a lesser-known leader from Jharkhand  Kheeru Mahto for the upcoming RS polls in Bihar.

In a similar development, contrary to speculation Congress did not nominate its senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, or any other member of the G-23 group of dissidents, in its list of ten candidates announced on Sunday.  Former Union Minister P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, and Ajay Maken besides senior leader  Rajeev Shukla and Randeep Singh Surjewala figure in the list.

Meanwhile, the  BJP on Sunday released its list of 16 candidates for elections to the Upper House which includes Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who will contest from Karnataka, and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal who will go to the Upper House from Maharashtra.

The decision to deny a berth to RCP Singh comes amid reports that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and several senior JD(U) leaders reportedly opposed Singh's nomination over his growing proximity with the BJP leadership. With this, the JD(U) will have no presence in the Modi Government unless the BJP accommodates him within the next six months. RCP Singh's current term in the Rajya Sabha ends on July 7.

The name of Mahto, the party's former Jharkhand unit chief, was announced here by JD(U)  national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. A former MLA,   Mahto belongs to the Kurmi caste, that of  Nitish Kumar and RCP Singh. RCP Singh was inducted into the Union Cabinet only last year and is currently enjoying his second-consecutive term in the Upper House.

Any possibility of Singh securing a nomination from the BJP also did not fructify as the saffron party renominated Satish Chandra Dubey and its state secretary Shambhu Sharan Patel as its two candidates from Bihar.  Patel comes from the extremely backward caste (Dhanuk), which constitutes nearly 4 per cent of votes. Dhanuks have traditionally supported JD(U). 

To make way for Patel, the BJP  denied renomination to another sitting MP Gopal Narain Singh.

Announcing Kheeru Mahto's nomination, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, "He is a commoner, poor party worker and this is another step in honouring party workers who have been associated with us since the days of Samata Party."

 "We want to expand beyond Bihar as well," he added, in response to questions about why the JD(U) did not select someone from Bihar, the State where it is in power.

Of the 16 BJP candidates, six are from Uttar Pradesh. These include two women —Darshana