India, Oct. 31 -- Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-election in Madhya Pradesh, even as police detained several Congress leaders ahead of planned protests against his candidature.

The 74-year-old leader reached the State Assembly building shortly after 11 am, along with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal under tight security.

Before submitting his papers, the Union Petroleum Minister paid obeisance at a gurudwara and visited Karuna Dham Ashram to seek the blessings of Sant Sudesh Shandilya Maharaj. MP Minister Krishna Gaur was among the proposers for his candidature.

The BJP's Central Election Committee had ann...