RS poll: BJP fields cash-for-vote accused Kulaste, Jaitley

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday night named 12 candidates, including cash-for-vote scam accused Faggan Singh Kulaste and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley for election to the upper house of Parliament.

Party general secretaries Ravi Shankar Prasad, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan are among the candidates nominated by the BJP.

Kulaste, an accused in the cash-for-vote scam who was among the three lawmakers who had waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha during the 2008 trust vote, has been fielded from Madhya Pradesh along with Najma Heptullah, Kaptan Singh Solanki and Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Party Vice President Vinay Katiyar, associated with the Ram Janambhoomi movement and former BJP Uttar Pradesh unit president, gets another term from the state.

Jaitley will contest for another term on a BJP ticket from Gujarat while Nadda has been given the ticket from Himachal Pradesh. Prasad and Pradhan will get his fourth term in the Rajya Sabha from Bihar.

While these 12 names have been announced on Friday after a meeting of the party central election committee, Gadkari has been authorised to decide on the remaining six vacancies.