By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to field Avinash Rai Khanna in Punjab and Vimla Kashyap in Himachal Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha elections.
In Punjab, three seats are expected to go to the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine and two to the Congress. In Himachal, the lone seat is expected to go to the ruling BJP.
The decision was taken at the central election committee of the BJP that met Monday with president Nitin Gadkari in the chair.
The last date for filing nominations is March 16. Polling, if necessary, will take place March 26.
The terms of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab — Sports Minister M.S. Gill, former minister Ashwani Kumar and D.P. Sabharwal (all Congress) and V.S. Bajwa (Akali Dal)– are ending April 9. The term of Akali Dal member Naresh Gujral will end March 22.
In Himachal, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma’s term ends April 3.