New Delhi: A day after being named for Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri was greeted by former Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs L. Murugan on Thursday.
The Rajya Sabha vacancy arose due to the resignation of Murugan, whose term was originally scheduled to continue until April 2, 2030. He now plans to strengthen the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu.
Sharing information about the Murugan’s courtesy call, Puri on social media platform X said, “My friend and fellow party Karyakarta, Thiru@LMuruganJi, very kindly visited me today to convey his warm wishes on my nomination as BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh.”
“I look forward to working with him to realise the vision of PM @narendramodiJi for a stronger and Aatmanirbhar #ViksitBharat,” Union Minister Puri noted.
The meeting came a day after the BJP announced Puri as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, after the latter was dropped from the party’s list of candidates from Uttar Pradesh.
In a statement, the BJP said that the party’s central election committee has approved Puri’s name for the bypoll announced by the Election Commission of India to fill the vacancy in the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh.
Puri, the only Sikh Minister in Prime Minister Modi’s Cabinet, was earlier elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. His current Rajya Sabha term ends in November.
The party has sent Puri, 74, to the Rajya Sabha twice. He had also unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier this month, the BJP announced eight candidates for biennial Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, seeking to strike a balance between caste representation and organisational experience.
Two women candidates figure in the list, underscoring the party’s thrust on women’s empowerment and women-led development.
However, the most conspicuous absence from the list was Hardeep Singh Puri. Besides him, another Union Minister, B.L. Verma, and all other sitting MPs have been left out of the nominations.
(IANS)
