BJP fields Ashwini Vaishnaw and Narayana Bandage for Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha, Karnataka

Vaishnaw has been assured support of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The BJD in its statement said that when Ashwini Vaishnaw was elected from Odisha, he took the oath as the Union Railway Minister in the central government, and it's a significant development that an Odisha representative became the Railway Minister. He made considerable efforts for Odisha's development, particularly in expanding the railway network. In the current budget, there's an allocation of 10,000 crores for our East Coast Zone, indicating a positive step for Odisha's prosperity and development.

Meanwhile, another BJP candidate from Karnataka, Narayana Bandage, filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru.

BJP's Uttarakhand state president Mahendra Bhatt filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha elections on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other party leaders in Dehradun.

Bhatt is a Brahmin face from Chamoli district and his candidature is being seen as a balancing exercise in the state.

Bhatt was also a candidate from the Badrinath assembly seat in the last assembly elections but lost his seat to Congress's candidate Rajendra Singh Bhandari.

CM Dhami, who was present during the nomination, said, "I want to thank the central leadership and PM Modi that Mahendra Bhatt was nominated for Rajya Sabha. It is a proud moment for all of us. The party workers are also happy."

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda will file his nomination for Rajya Sabha from Gujarat on Thursday. Nadda is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh.

In its latest list of candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls released on February 14, Wednesday, BJP has fielded seven nominees, four for Gujarat and three for Maharashtra.

Apart from Nadda, BJP has fielded three other leaders from Gujarat namely, Govindbhai Dholakia, Mayankbhai Nayak and Jashvantsinh Parmar. The nominees for Maharashtra include Medha Kulkarni, Ajit Gopchhade and Ashok Chavan.

Today is the last day for filing nomination papers for the RS polls. The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27.

Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15. The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27. (ANI)