BJP shows trump cards for Rajya Sabha elections

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh while Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will do so from Madhya Pradesh. Bhupender Yadav, the party's general secretary, will again contest from Rajasthan. The BJP's central election committee announced on Wednesday.The terms of all leaders end on April 2 and all are set to be elected again. The party announced the names of seven Union ministers and one general secretary for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in various states.

Jaitley is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and Pradhan is a member from Bihar. Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot will contest from Madhya Pradesh, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar and J P Nadda from Himachal Pradesh, the party said in a statement.The other two Union ministers, Parshottam Rupala and Manusukh Mandaviya, will contest from Gujarat.Bhupender Yadav, the party's general secretary, will again contest from Rajasthan. The terms of all seven leaders end on April 2 and all are set to be elected again. 

The Rajya Sabha polls will be held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats which will fall vacant in April this year. Polling will be held on March 23.

The vacancies to be filled are 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh, six each from Bihar and Maharashtra; five each from West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh; four each from Gujarat and Karnataka; three each from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Rajasthan; two from Jharkhand; and one seat each from Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.