Chandigarh, June 5 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday nominated its national general secretary and Amritsar native, Tarun Chugh, 55, for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh, virtually assuring the Punjab leader's entry into the Upper House.

The party released a list of 11 candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections, which did not include the names of former Punjab party chief Sunil Jakhar or Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu.

The announcement comes amid a buzz in political circles that Jakhar may be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha after making way for the party's new Punjab president, Kewal Singh Dhillon, the first Jat Sikh to head the state unit.

Bittu, meanwhile, recently expressed his ...