BJP fields Union Ministers Ravneet Bittu, George Kurian for Rajya Sabha bypolls 2024

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released a list of candidates for the upcoming by-elections to the Rajya Sabha from different states. The BJP fielded Bar Council of India Chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Dhairyashil Patil from Maharashtra, Union ministers George Kurian and Ravneet Singh Bittu, among others.

Elections to the 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3. Ten of these seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Bypolls are also being held for two seats in Telangana and Odisha.

Notably, the BJP named senior party leader Kiran Choudhry as its nominee from Haryana for the Rajya Sabha bypoll, nearly two months after she switched sides from the Congress.

The bypoll for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana was necessitated after Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak.

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In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP fielded Union Minister George Kurian for bypolls. The vacancy was created after Rajya Sabha member and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia won the Lok Sabha election from the Guna constituency.

The BJP also fielded Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu from the Rajasthan seat.

The ruling party has fielded Mission Ranjan Das and former Union minister Rameswar Teli as its candidates from Assam.

The 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats include those held by Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who have since been elected to the Lok Sabha.

In addition to Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, other Rajya Sabha members who transitioned to the Lok Sabha after winning parliamentary elections include Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP), Misha Bharti (RJD), Vivek Thakur (BJP), Deepender Singh Hooda (Congress), Udayanraje Bhosle (BJP), KC Venugopal (Congress), and Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP).