Rajya Sabha polls: Motilal Vora, Murli Deora among Congress nominees; no word on Shiela Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The Congress tonight announced the names of seven candidates, including Motilal Vora, Murli Deora and Ranjib Biswal, for the February 7 Rajya Sabha polls, but there was no decision yet on the nomination of former Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Vora (86) was renominated from Chhattisgarh, and Deora and Hussain Dalwai from Maharashtra. Biswal is the party's nominee from Odisha.

Other nominees were Viplove Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, Haji Abdul Salam from Manipur, and Wansuk Syiem from Meghalaya, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi announced today, a day after party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi discussed the matter with AICC general secretaries in-charge of concerned states.

The party's candidates from Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh are expected to be announced tomorrow.

The last date for filing nominations for the polls is Tuesday (Jan 28), and the scrutiny will be held the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 31.

Though Dikshit's nomination from Himachal Pradesh or Haryana was being talked about, the AICC has named Viplove Thakur from Himachal. The attention, therefore, has now shifted to Haryana.

According to sources, the Congress high command wants to accommodate Dikshit who has served as Delhi Chief Minister for 15 years.