Prakash Javadekar or Nirmala Sitharaman to contest Rajya Sabha poll from Madhya Pradesh?

BHOPAL: BJP may field Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar or the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, a source said. By-election for the seat was announced by the Election Commission today. "The seat will go to either Javadekar or Sitharaman," a BJP leader told PTI here.

Both, at present, are not members of either house of the Parliament. The bypoll was necessitated by resignation of BJP's Faggan Singh Kulaste from Rajya Sabha, after he won the Lok Sabha election from Mandla.

The process for filing nominations for the bypoll started today with Election Commission issuing a notification. Madhya Pradesh Assembly's Principal Secretary, Bhagwandev Israni, has been appointed as the Returning Officer. Israni said last date of filing nominations is June 9. Scrutiny will be done on June 10 and the last date for withdrawal is June 12. If necessary, the election will be held on June 19, he said.