The BJP has nominated Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal as its candidate from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha election slated on June 11. Goyal filed his nomination for the RS polls at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai last evening. The Shiv Sena had last week nominated Sanjay Raut as the party nominee for polls to the Upper House of Parliament.<br/><br/>In Maharashtra, six Rajya Sabha seats are up for grabs. Besides Raut, the other retiring Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra are Ishwarlal Jain and Praful Patel from NCP, Vijay Darda and Avinash Pande from Congress, and Union Minister Piyush Goyal from BJP.<br/><br/>The biennial elections to 57 seats in Rajya Sabha are necessitated as 55 members from 15 states are retiring between June and August. The number of votes required to win election by a candidate is pegged at 42. The combined strength of Sena and BJP in the House is 185 with Sena having 63 seats and BJP having 122 seats.