The Central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday named Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as the party’s nominee for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Pradhan, who hails from Odisha, was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2012. His tenure in the Upper House of the Parliament will end on April 23, 2018.
Five Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh will complete their terms in April 2018. They include Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, l Ganeshan, Thawarchand Gehlot and Meghraj Jain from the BJP and Satyavrat Chaturvedi from the Congress.
The biennial elections will be held on March 23 to replace 58 Rajya Sabha members.
Earlier, rumours were doing rounds on national media that the BJP central leadership may consider fielding Pradhan or Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from Maharashtra.