Jaipur, Aug 20 (IANS): Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has been named the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate from Rajasthan. He is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister, Beant Singh, and is currently the Minister of State for Railways in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-government.

Rajasthan has a total of 10 Rajya Sabha seats. Out of these, 5 are with Congress and 4 with the BJP. One seat is currently vacant. The election is to be held for this seat.

If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manages to win the vacant seat, both Congress and BJP will have 5 seats each.

Meanwhile, BJP sources submitted that Ravneet Singh Bittu's nomination will bring a positive impact on the party as Rajasthan shares a border with Punjab - the home state of the Union Minister.

According to sources, places like Ganganagar where the BJP could not put up an impressive show during the Assembly polls is expected to benefit.

Ravneet Singh Bittu, a three-time former Congress MP, is the Minister of State for Railways and the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries in the Modi 3.0 government.

Previously, he was a member of the Congress and also represented the party in the lower house of the Parliament.

Ravneet Singh Bittu was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.

Earlier, in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, he emerged victorious from the Anandpur Sahib seat.

There are a total of 200 Assembly seats in Rajasthan. Six seats are vacant.

The BJP has 114 MLAs, while the Congress has only 66 members.

Considering the strength of the BJP in the Rajasthan Assembly, the party is expected to win.

Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan representing BJP are Rajendra Gehlot, Chunnilal Garasiya, Ghanshyam Tiwari and Madan Rathore.

On the other hand, Congress' Rajya Sabha MPs from Rajasthan state are Sonia Gandhi, Neeraj Dangi, Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari and Randeep Surjewala.