External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar files Rajya Sabha nomination from Gandhinagar today

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar filed his nomination papers on Monday for the Rajya Sabha elections from Gandhinagar.The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal to be held on July 24. The EC said that 10 members from Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal are scheduled to retire in the months of July and August.Jaishankar said, "I received the honour to represent Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha four years back. I received the opportunity to become a part of the changes in the country under the leadership of PM Modi. I hope to be able to contribute to the progress that will take place in the coming 4 years." The 10 seats which are to be vacated in Rajya Sabha due to the retirement of members include Derek O'Brien from West Bengal and S Jaishankar from Gujarat.July 13 is the last date for filing nominations for the vacant RS seats, EC said.The counting of the votes will be done on July 24. Elections will be held on one Rajya Sabha seat from Goa as Vinay D. Tendulkar is set to retire on July 28.Three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat will go to polls as Dineshchandra Jemalbhai Anavadiya, Lokhandwala Jugalsinh Mathurji, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Krishnaswamy will retire on August 18, an official statement said.Jaishankar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in 2019 and took oath as a member of the Upper House.The Union Minister bagged 104 votes, while his Congress rival Gaurav Pandya got 70 votes.The two seats from Gujarat fell vacant after Union Ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha in recent national polls.The strength of the BJP in the 182-seat Gujarat assembly stands at 156.Six Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal will also go to polls as Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Pradip Bhattacharya, Sushmita Dev, Shanta Chhetri, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray are set to retire on August 18.With inputs from ANI