Bhopal, Oct. 31 -- Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh at the state Assembly in Bhopal.
In the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla, and senior minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, Puri submitted his nomination papers to the Returning Officer, days after the BJP announced his candidature.
The by-election, necessitated by the resignation of L Murugan, is scheduled to be held on November 12. The counting of votes and declaration of results will also take place on the same day.
The last date for filing nominations is November 2, while candidates can withdraw their nominations until November 5.
Murugan, who represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha and served as a Minister of State in the Narendra Modi government, had a tenure that was scheduled to end in April 2030. Puri's current term as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh is due to end on November 25.
The BJP's decision to field Puri from Madhya Pradesh came after the party did not renominate him for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh held on October 9.
Welcoming Puri's candidature, Chief Minister Yadav said his administrative experience and efficiency would contribute to Madhya Pradesh's development. He said the state would benefit from the Union minister's experience and guidance and expressed confidence that Puri would win the by-election.
However, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar criticised the BJP's decision to nominate Puri from Madhya Pradesh, questioning why the Union minister had chosen the state after allegedly failing to secure renomination from Uttar Pradesh. Singhar also questioned Puri's reluctance to interact with the media, referring to his name allegedly appearing in the Epstein files.
The BJP's Central Election Committee approved Puri's candidature on October 28.
Puri, 74, is a former Indian Foreign Service officer who entered the Rajya Sabha in January 2018 and was re-elected in 2020. He has been a member of the Union Cabinet since 2017 and currently heads the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry.
The BJP, with 164 MLAs in the 230-member state Assembly, is comfortably placed to win the seat. A candidate requires 116 votes to secure victory if all 230 legislators participate in the voting.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.