Bangalore, 21 February 2011: Veteran actress Hema Malini today filed her nomination papers as the BJP candidate for the March three Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka.
Accompanied by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the party’s state unit president K S Eshwarappa, she filed the nomination before Returning Officer, S B Patil, at Vidhana Soudha, the State secretariat.
Going by the BJP’s strength in the Legislative Assembly, Hema Malini is sure to get elected.
The bye-election to the seat was necessitated following the death of former Union Minister M Rajasekhara Murthy.
The winning candidate’s term would end on April two next year.
Hema Malini’s surprise choice for the seat has reportedly led to dissatisfaction among a section of BJP in the State, as she is seen as an "outsider".
Before the announcement of her candidature, the name of former Union Minister of State for Finance, V Dhananjaya Kumar, who is the Special Representative of Karnataka in New Delhi, was doing the rounds.
Malini, who completed one term in the Rajya Sabha in 2009, will get only the remaining one year term of Rajashekhar Murthy. The JD(S) leader died on December 6, 2010 due to a heart attack.