RS polls 2018: Republic TV promoter Rajeev Chandrasekhar in BJP list of 18

Sam Pitroda is a notable exception in the Congress list of 10 nominations for the March 23 Rajya Sabha polls

The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday came out with names of their nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls to be held on March 23. 

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the chairman of Jupiter Capital, which is one of the largest investors in Arnab Goswami's Republic Tv news channel has been nominated by the BJP. 

Anil Baluni, the national head of the BJP's media wing, has been named from Uttarakhand, while Saroj Pandey, who is presently the general secretary of the party, has been named from Chattisgarh.

Kirori Lal Meena and Madan Lal Saini have been named to contest from Rajasthan.

Prominent leaders like GVL Narshima Rao who is the party's spokesperson and Anil Jain, National General Secretary of BJP will contest from Uttar Pradesh along with Ashok Bajpai, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Kanta Kardam and Harnath Singh Yadav.

Ajay Pratap Singh and Kailash Soni will contest from Madhya Pradesh while Narayana Rane and V Muralidharan will represent Maharashtra.

Lt General DP Vats, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Sameer Uranv are contesting from Haryana, Karnataka and Jharkhand respectively.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar.

The BJP will field Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot from Madhya Pradesh for another Rajya Sabha term.

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Mansukh L.

Mandaviya and Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala will contest election from Gujarat.

The elections will be held on March 23 and the deadline for submission of nominations is March 12.

There will be 59 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha in April, including 17 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 12 from the Congress party. Three nominated members - actor Rekha, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and social worker Anu Aga - will also retire then.

The 10 Congress candidates include senior journalist Kumar Ketkar and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also representing Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media case. Singhvi will contest from West Bengal.The Trinamool Congress has already announced its support for his candidature.

Singhvi is also representing the party in the Supreme Court in some high-profile cases.

The last date for nominations is Monday.

There will be 59 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha in April, including 17 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 12 from the Congress party. Three nominated members - actor Rekha, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and social worker Anu Aga - will also retire then.