Senior Congress leaders and Rajya Sabha nominees from Chhattisgarh Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan reached Raipur from Delhi by a regular flight on Monday afternoon.

Congress candidates for Rajya Sabha election from Chhattisgarh Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan will file their nominations at Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on the last date of the nomination, on Tuesday.

The Congress party has fielded Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan as Rajya Sabha candidates from Chhattisgarh.

Talking to mediapersons at Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur on Monday, Rajya Sabha nominee Rajeev Shukla said, “I express gratitude towards the Congress party and the people of Chhattisgarh for giving an opportunity to serve as a Rajya Sabha member from Chhattisgarh. I will strongly raise the issues of Chhattisgarh in the Upper House as well as at the national level.”

Replying to a query on the BJP leaders’ allegations of giving Rajya Sabha ticket to outsiders, Rajeev Shukla strongly criticized the BJP and said for a Member of Rajya Sabha election, a person should not necessarily be a resident of

the state the one major criteria is that he should be a citizen of the country and that is the basic criteria for selection as Rajya Sabha Member. Countering the allegations of the BJP he said, “BJP has already sent people of other states to Rajya Sabha from many different states. Let the BJP answer it first and then ask others.” Replying to another query, Shukla said, “We have many priorities for the development of Chhattisgarh. Raw material is plentiful in Chhattisgarh and there is immense potential for industrial development. The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has done a very good work in the field of education. The Chhattisgarh government is working to provide quality education in the field of higher education. Development is our priority”, said Shukla. Talking to media persons at Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur, Rajya Sabha nominee Rajeev Shukla said, “I extend my gratitude to the Congress party as well as the people of Chhattisgarh for giving this opportunity. Earlier, I had served as Lok Sabha Member twice and I was also honoured with the best parliamentarian award. I will sincerely raise the issues of Chhattisgarh in Rajya Sabha and always fight for the interest of the people of Chhattisgarh.” Both leaders were welcomed by the Congress party leaders at Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur. Chairman of State Mineral Development Corporation Girish Dewangan, State Congress Incharge General Secretary Amarjeet Chawla, State Congress Spokesman Dhananjay Singh Thakur and other Congress leaders welcomed Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan. Rajeev Shukla, hailing from Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is an Indian politician, former journalist, political commentator and the former chairman of Indian Premier League. Ranjeet Ranjan, who is the wife of former Lok Sabha Member Pappu Yadav, was two times member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar. Both have been made the Congress candidates for Rajya Sabha election from Chhattisgarh. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on June 1. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 3. Polling will be held on June 10 from 9 am to 4 pm, and the counting will be held on the same day at 5 pm. It may be noted that out of 90 members of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, Congress has 71 MLAs, Bharatiya Janata Party has 14 MLAs, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) has 3 and Bahujan Samaj Party has 2 MLAs. Voting will be through ballot papers. The Congress party with robust numbers is poised to win both Rajya Sabha seats. The term of office of Rajya Sabha members from Chhattisgarh Chhaya Verma from Congress and Ramvichar Netam from BJP is due to expire upon their retirement on June 29