Rahul Gandhi claims he has no say in who Congress nominates to the Rajya Sabha

As the last date approaches for filing a nomination for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, Congress is yet to announce their candidates. Veteran party leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that since he is not the party Chief, he is not the deciding authority on the ticket distribution in the party.

'I am informing the youth of the country about the economy'

Addressing the media at Parliament House, the former party chief said, "I am not the party President and I am not taking decisions on Rajya Sabha nominees. I'm informing the youth of the country about the economy. Who is in my team, who is not in my team is of no consequence.

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Congress expected to release the names soon 

According to sources, the Congress is expected to release its list of Rajya Sabha candidates on Thursday night. Sources added that the names which the Congress is likely to announce are of Priyanka Vadra Gandhi, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal and Mallikarjun Kharge. 

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena named Priyanka Chaturvedi from Maharashtra and the BJP on Wednesday nominated Jyoritaditya Scindia from Madhya Pradesh as their candidates for Rajya Sabha respectively. Interestingly, both the leaders are were part of the Congress. The exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the party has fuelled speculation over the future of young leaders, who are considered close to party leader Rahul Gandhi.

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Priyanka Chaturvedi, who started her political career with the Congress party in 2010, had quit the party last year over its failure to punish the party leaders accused of misbehaving with her during a press conference in Mathura in 2018. On the other hand, a day after quitting the Congress, Scindia joined the ruling BJP on Wednesday in the presence of its president JP Nadda and slammed his former party for "denying reality" and "not acknowledging" new thoughts and new leadership.

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Meanwhile, the BJP on Thursday announced names of five more candidates for the March 26 Rajya Sabha polls. The party fielded backward community leader Ramchandra Jangra and its Vice President Dushyant Kumar Gautam, a Dalit, from Haryana, Indu Goswami from Himachal Pradesh, Bhagwat Karad from Maharashtra and Sumer Singh Solanki from Madhya Pradesh. The party had on Wednesday named its nine candidates for the polls.

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(With agency inputs)