New Delhi, 04 March (H.S.): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled its second list of candidates on Wednesday for the Rajya Sabha elections across 10 states' 37 seats, spotlighting four nominees from Maharashtra, including Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde.

The party's Central Election Committee greenlit Athawale, Tawde, Maya Chintaman Iwanate, and Ramrao Vadakule for Maharashtra, balancing representation with one Scheduled Caste, one Scheduled Tribe, one Maratha, and one Other Backward Class candidate.

This move reiterates BJP's alliance with Athawale's Republican Party of India (Athawale faction), following his Tuesday meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai; sources link it to RPI(A)'s backing during recent municipal polls in exchange for legislative seats.

Tuesday's first list named nine candidates: Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar from Bihar; Terash Gowala and Jogen Mohan from Assam; Lakshmi Verma from Chhattisgarh; Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana; Manmohan Samal and Sujit Kumar from Odisha; and Rahul Sinha from West Bengal. Nominations close March 5, with polls set for March 16 on seats including seven from Maharashtra, six from Tamil Nadu, five each from Bihar and West Bengal, four from Odisha, three from Assam, two each from Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana, plus one from Himachal Pradesh.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar