Bhopal: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh, will file his nomination papers at the state Assembly in Bhopal on Saturday in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and other senior party leaders.
The Madhya Pradesh BJP Media department said Puri would leave the party’s state headquarters at 11 a.m. to file his nomination papers.
“Union Minister and BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, Hardeep Singh Puri, will leave the party’s state headquarters at 11 a.m. on October 31 to file his nomination papers,” the BJP media department said.
He will proceed to the Legislative Assembly and submit his nomination in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, State BJP President and MLA Hemant Khandelwal, State Organisational General Secretary Chandrashekhar and other senior party leaders.
Before proceeding to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Puri will pay floral tributes to statues of prominent party leaders at the state BJP headquarters at 10:30 a.m., along with CM Mohan Yadav.
The BJP announced Puri’s candidature on October 28 for the November 12 Rajya Sabha by-election.
The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Union Minister L. Murugan, whose term was scheduled to continue until April 2030.
Puri, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, is due to complete his term on November 25. His candidature from Madhya Pradesh has triggered a political controversy, with the Congress questioning the BJP’s decision to field a leader from outside the state instead of a local leader.
The opposition party has also raised questions over Puri’s alleged interactions with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded an explanation from the Union Minister and the BJP.
The BJP is in a comfortable position to retain the seat, given its numerical strength in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.
The BJP has 164 MLAs, while the Congress has 65.
Polling for the Rajya Sabha by-election is scheduled for November 12.
(IANS)
