Akali Dal names Dhindsa, Gujral for Rajya Sabha polls

New Delhi News.Net
Monday 15th March, 2010

Former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and sitting Rajya Sabha member Naresh Gujral Monday filed their nominations for the March 26 elections to the upper house of parliament after Punjab's ruling Akali Dal named them as its candidates.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the Punjab's coalition government, named former Lok Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna as its candidate for the elections.

Elections for five Rajya Sabha seats from the state, which are falling vacant next month, is scheduled for March 26.

The Akali Dal-BJP alliance is likely to get three seats and the opposition Congress is likely to win two seats on the basis of the respective strengths of the parties in the state assembly.

While Dhindsa, one of the senior-most Akali Dal leaders, lost the Lok Sabha election from Sangrur last year, Gujral, the son of former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, has earlier been a Lok Sabha member from the state.

The Congress is likely to re-nominate union Sports Minister M.S. Gill for the Rajya Sabha poll since his term in the house ends next month.

Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said that Dhindsa and Gujral filed their nomination papers Monday.

Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations.

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