Ranchi

Former minister Baidyanath Ram on Monday filed his nomination as a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats in the state going to polls.

He filed his nomination at the Jharkhand Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and several other ministers.

The nomination papers were submitted to Assembly Secretary Ranjit Kumar, officials said.

One of the Rajya Sabha seats in the state fell vacant following the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren. The other vacancy is because BJP member Deepak Prakash is scheduled to complete his six-year term on June 21.

The nomination process for the elections commenced on June 1, while the polling will be held on June 18.

To ensure victory, a candidate is required to secure a minimum of 28 first-preference votes.

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In the Jharkhand Assembly, the INDIA bloc has 56 members, comprising 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation.

The NDA has 24 MLAs -- 21 from the BJP and one each from the LJP (Ram Vilas), AJSU Party and the JD(U). Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA.