Ahmedabad, July 9 - External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is set to file his nomination papers on Monday for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat. The elections are being held to fill three vacancies within the Rajya Sabha from the state.
The deadline for nominations is July 13, with the last date for withdrawal on July 14. The polling is scheduled for July 24, with the vote count set to commence at 5 p.m. on the same day.
The three seats, which will become vacant, are currently held by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose terms are due to end on August 18. The Congress, which holds only 17 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, has confirmed that it will not field any candidates this time around. This was confirmed by Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.
According to the BJP, Dr. Jaishankar will file his nomination at 12:39 p.m. on Monday in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, State President CR Patil, and other party leaders.
Gujarat contributes a total of 11 seats to the Rajya Sabha. Presently, the BJP occupies 8 of these, and the Congress holds the remaining 3. The BJP's current Rajya Sabha MPs include Rambhai Mokaria, Ramilaben Bara, Narhari Amin, Parshottam Rupala, Mansukh Mandaviya, S Jaishankar, Dinesh Anavadiya, and Jugalji Thakor. From the Congress side, the Rajya Sabha members are Shaktisinh Gohil, Ami Yagnik, and Naran Rathwa. The terms of three BJP MPs - Dinesh Anavadiya, Jugalji Thakor, and S Jaishankar - are due to end on August 18.
