NEW DELHI: A number of prominent names, including Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, are missing from the BJP's list of Rajya Sabha candidates. The BJP has so far released the names of 22 candidates for the June 10 election in three lists.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Naqvi, former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, party national general secretary Dushyant Gautam, former national vice president Dr Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, former Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla, and national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam's names are missing from the list.

Sahastrabuddhe is president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

According to sources, Naqvi may run for the Rampur Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where by-elections are scheduled for June 23. Naqvi was elected to the Upper House from Jharkhand, and this time the BJP nominated Aditya Sahu from the state.

Late Monday evening, the BJP announced the names of four more Rajya Sabha candidates from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming biennial election. On Sunday, the BJP released two lists of 18 candidates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. The BJP has fielded Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman of Karnataka and Piyush Goyal of Maharashtra in a list of candidates released on Sunday.

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