Rajya Sabha Elections: Arun Jaitley files nomination in Luknow

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley filed his nomination papers for the Biennial Elections for the 58 Rajya Sabha seats on Monday in Lucknow.

Earlier on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of 18 candidates for the biennial elections for the 58 Rajya Sabha seats.

Ajay Pratap Singh, who has contested the assembly elections in 2003 and 2008, and Kailash Soni will represent the party from Madhya Pradesh.

Some other prominent names on their list were former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane and entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP general secretaries Anil Jain and Saroj Pandey, and spokespersons Anil Baluni and G V L Narasimha Rao.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders Manoj Jha and Ashfaque Karim have also filed nomination papers for Rajya Sabha in Patna.

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

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