With the June 8 deadline for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections approaching, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president BK Hariprasad on Saturday indicated that the party is keeping its options open regarding the final seat and is closely watching the opposition's moves.
Speaking to reporters, Hariprasad said the Congress would decide its next course of action after assessing the BJP's candidate lineup.
"8th is the last day, we will wait till the 8th and see how many candidates will be fielded by the BJP. Then we will see. We have filed 4, one more will be filing on Monday," Hariprasad said.
Congress, BJP Announce Candidates For Rajya Sabha
The Congress on Thursday announced seven candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 18. The list includes party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been nominated from Karnataka.
The party has also fielded Mansoor Ali Khan and Pawan Khera from Karnataka, Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh, Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan, Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its list of 11 candidates for the biennial and by-elections to the Rajya Sabha from multiple states.
The BJP's Central Election Committee cleared the candidature of Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh; Rajubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya from Gujarat; Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal from Madhya Pradesh; A Sharda Devi from Manipur; and Alka Gurjar and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan.
For the Rajya Sabha by-election in Odisha, the BJP has nominated Debashish Samantaray.
Rajya Sabha Election
Earlier, on June 3, the Election Commission issued the notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states. The seats include four each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat; three each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh; two in Jharkhand; and one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.
The nomination process is underway, with June 8 being the last date for filing papers.
The Election Commission has also announced by-elections to one Rajya Sabha seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.