Gandhinagar, March 11 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday nominated two candidates -- Ramilaben Bara and Abhay Bhardwaj -- for the April 26 Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat.

The decision was taken by BJP central election committee, chaired by party chief J.P. Nadda.

Ramilaben, a former BJP legislator from the Khedbrahma constituency, was Deputy Secretary in the state secretariat before joining politics.

Abhay Bhardwaj, a senior advocate, had defended all the accused in the Gulberg massacre case where 69 Muslims were killed during post-Godhra riots in Ahmedabad. He was also the special public prosecutor in the Jayanti Bhanushali murder case. Bhanushali, a BJP legislator, was murdered in a train.

The term of four Rajya Sabha members -- three BJP and one Congress -- from Gujarat concluded on April 9.

The three BJP members whose terms are ending are Chunibhai Kanjibhai Gohel from Junagadh, Lalsinh Udesinh Vadodiya from Anand and Shambhuprasad Baldevdasji Tundiya from Ahmedabad.

Madhusudan Mistry is the retiring Congress MP.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 103 MLAs, the Congress 73, the Bharatiya Tribal Party two, the Nationalist Congress Party one, Independent one. Two seats are vacant.