Three BJP candidates — External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, former legislator Babu Desai and Kshatriya face Kesridevsinh Zala — were on Monday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.
The ruling party won all the three seats since the main opposition Congress did not field any candidate owing to lack of numbers in the Assembly.
For Mr. Jaishankar, this is his second term for the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat while the saffron party has fielded two new faces: Mr. Desai and Mr. Zala in place of outgoing members Jugal Thakor and Dinesh Anavadiya.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and State party chief C.R. Paatil congratulated the three members on their election to the Rajya Sabha from the State.
Mr. Desai was elected to the Assembly from 2007 to 2012 from Kankrej in Banaskantha district. The party has picked him to bolster its hold in Banaskantha and Patan districts of north Gujarat which are traditionally Congress strongholds.
In the last Assembly polls, the Congress won six seats from these two districts in its worst performance in the State winning just 17 out of 182 seats.
Based in Ahmedabad, Mr. Desai is a prominent realty player in the city and has declared assets worth over ₹300 crore.
Mr. Zala is a political dynast and his late father Digvijaysinh was a Deputy Environment Minister in 1982-1984 in the Indira Gandhi government at the Centre.
He comes from erstwhile royal family of Vankaner in the Saurashtra region. According to party insiders, the party wanted to bring a fresh and new face from the Kshatriya community in the region.
This is Mr. Zala’s first electoral innings. Though he is active in his area, he has not contested any election.
