BJP chief Amit Shah and Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani will contest the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.

Shah, currently a legislator in Gujarat, will leave for Gujarat on Thursday to file nominations for the seat.

If elected, it will be Shah's debut in Parliament.

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, has been re-nominated for the other seat.   

The announcements were made by Union Minister J.P. Nadda after a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board in New Delhi  on Wednesday evening.

However, BJP has not yet named a third candidate for the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections.

According to the sources, the party could back Balwantsingh Rajput, a senior Congress leader who might quit the party and contest as an Independent candidate against Ahmed Patel
.