Union Minister of State George Kurian, 64, filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate for Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
The BJP announced Kurian its Rajya Sabha candidate from MP on Tuesday evening.
The seat has fallen vacant after former BJP Rajya Sabha member and union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia left the seat after winning the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 from Guna constituency in MP and subsequently becoming the new Union Telecom Minister.
MP Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, Deputy CMs Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla and MP BJP Chief V D Sharma were present during the nomination filing.
George Kurian, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Minority Affairs, arrived in Bhopal on Wednesday morning, where state BJP chief V D Sharma welcomed him. After that, he met Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at the latter’s official residence in the state capital.
He later filed his nomination papers at the state assembly complex.
Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states would be held on September 3.
Of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, three are with the Congress and seven with the ruling BJP.
George Kurian, a Senior BJP leader from Kerala, is assured of a win unopposed, as the ruling BJP has the numbers in the State Assembly.
In the 230-member House, the BJP has 163 MLAs, Congress 64 and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) one. Two seats are vacant at present.