RS bypolls: Union minister George Kurian files nomination as BJP candidate from MP

Bhopal: Union minister George Kurian on Wednesday filed his nomination papers as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the upcoming by-election to a Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh.

The BJP on Tuesday evening announced Kurian as its candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh that became vacant following Jyotiraditya Scindia's election to the Lok Sabha.

Kurian, who is Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Minority Affairs, arrived in Bhopal on Wednesday morning, where state BJP chief V D Sharma welcomed him. After that, he met Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at the latter's official residence in the state capital.

He later filed his nomination papers at the state assembly complex in the presence of CM Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda and state BJP chief Sharma, party spokesman Ashish Agrawal said.

Scindia, Union Minister of Communications, vacated his Rajya Sabha seat after being elected from Guna constituency in the general elections earlier this year.

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3.

Of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, three are with the Congress and seven with the ruling BJP.

In case of an election if the opposition also fields a candidate, Kurian, a leader from Kerala, can win comfortably given the BJP's strength in the Madhya Pradesh assembly.

In the 230-member House, the BJP has 163 MLAs, Congress 64 and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) one. Two seats are vacant at present.