Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and noted journalist M J Akbar figured in BJP's second list of six candidates today for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls with the two being fielded from Andhra Pradesh, where ally TDP has assured its support, and Madhya Pradesh respectively.
With one day left for filing of nominations for the polls, the announcement was made by the BJP even as Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti were among several candidates from different parties who today submitted their papers.
BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in-charge of its affairs in MP, and Vikas Mahatme were nominated from Maharashtra while Shiv Pratap Shukla will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand. It had yesterday released the first list of 12 candidates.
Elections for 57 seats in the Upper House from 15 states are due to be held on June 11.
BJP's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing the rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.
Interestingly, the names of 12 candidates recommended by the BJP election committee in MP to the Central Election Committee for two Rajya Sabha seats did not have Akbar's name However, the veteran scribe pipped them all.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) nominated party chief Shibu Soren's younger son Basant Soren as its candidate from the mineral-rich state.
