External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who arrived at the Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat on Sunday, is set to file his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections today from state's capital Gandhinagar. Jaishankar’s term in Rajya Sabha is set to end on August 18. Earlier on Sunday, Gujarat BJP general secretary Pradeepsinh Vaghela said that Jaishankar is scheduled to file his nomination form at noon on Monday, as the news agency PTI reported. Jaishankar was received by Gujarat Minister Raghavji Patel, Ahmedabad Mayor Kirit Parmar, and other BJP functionaries at the Ahmedabad airport.
While the saffron party has not officially declared the names of candidates for the three Rajya Sabha seats, Jaishankar's nomination was certain. On Friday, the Congress said it would not field candidates for polls to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat as it did not have enough MLAs in the 182-member state Assembly.
Four years ago, Jaishankar had filed his nomination for the first time from Gujarat for the Rajya Sabha. The BJP won a record 156 seats in the Gujarat Assembly polls held late last year, while the Congress saw its worst performance since the state was formed by managing to get just 17 seats.
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Out of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat, eight are held by the BJP and the rest by the Congress. Of the eight seats held by the BJP, the terms of S Jaishankar, Jugalji Thakor, and Dinesh Anavadiya will end on August 18. Polls will be held for these three seats. The last date for filing nominations is July 13 and the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is July 17. The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat, and West Bengal to be held on July 24.
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