Senior BJP leader l Ganesan filed his nomination papers here on Friday for the by-election to the lone vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh. Ganesan, who is BJP's official candidate, filed his papers with MP Assembly Returning Officer AP Singh, who is the Principal Secretary of the Assembly.
The seat fell vacant following the resignation of former Union Minister Najma Heptullah on August 20 after she was appointed as the Governor of Manipur. As the tenure of Upper House membership ends on April 2, 2018, the by-poll was necessitated.
BJP president Amit Shah had earlier announced the name of Ganesan, former BJP State president of Tamil Nadu and national executive member, as the party's candidate for the by-election to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The Election Commission had recently issued the notification for the by-election. The process for filing nominations will end on October 3. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on October 4 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 6. If necessary, polling will be held on October 17 from 9 am to 4 pm and soon after counting of votes will take place.