Amit Shah, Smriti Irani to contest Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat

New Delhi: In a major development, BJP National President Amit Shah and Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will contest Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat.

The announcement was made after the BJP parliamentary meet on Wednesday evening.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda confirmed the news and said, "Amit Shah and Smriti Irani will contest Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat." The elections are scheduled to take place on August 8.

Both Shah and Irani will file their nominations on July 28, as per ANI. 

Amit Shah, who was elected as an MLA from Sarkhej in four consecutive elections in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2007 was instrumental in scripting BJP's victory in 2014 Assembly elections.

Irani, whose Rajya Sabha term from Gujarat comes to an end on August 18, will be renominated by the BJP for the seat.

Irani was recently appointed as the Information and Broadcasting Minister after the post went vacant following Venkaiah Naidu's resignation, who was nominated as NDA's vice-presidential candidate. 

Earlier in the day, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political secretary and senior party leader Ahmed Patel filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat. 

Patel is already a member of the Upper House of Parliament from the state. If re-elected, the 67-year-old would become a member of the House for the fifth time.

Veteran leader Shankarsinh Vaghela, who recently quit from the Congress, announced that he was ready to support Patel in the upcoming Rajya Sabha poll in Gujarat, if the party’s state in-charge Ashok Gehlot takes back his allegations against him.