New Delhi: Kartikeya Sharma, the owner of media firm NewsX and son of former Congress leader Venod Sharma, filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha from Haryana as an independent candidate Tuesday.
Sharma is the second media head to file nomination for Rajya Sabha after Subhash Chandra of the Zee Group. Chandra, whose Rajya Sabha term ends on 1 August, filed his nomination from Rajasthan as an independent candidate backed by the BJP.
Kartikeya is the brother of Manu Sharma, who was convicted in the Jessica Lal murder case.
Kartikeya, who is the managing director of ITV (Information TV Private Limited) that owns the broadsheet The Sunday Guardian, besides NewsX, is married to Aishwarya, daughter of Congress leader and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma. The Congress has nominated Ajay Maken from Haryana.
Chandra had contested and won Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Haryana in 2016. This time, however, he is contesting from Rajasthan, from where the Congress has nominated its spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, besides Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari.
BJP, meanwhile, has fielded former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari from Rajasthan.
Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations for the 57 Rajya Sabha seats that have or will fall vacant between June and August following retirement of members. Elections to the 57 seats will be held on 10 June.
Also read: Modi govt plans annual meeting with state chief secys, to ‘talk problems & thrash out fixes’