Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar will file his nomination papers for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra on January 24.

The term of seven Rajya Sabha members from the state expires on April 2. The elections will be held on February 7. Pawar is the sitting Lok Sabha member from the Madha constituency in Western Maharashtra.

He had recently declared that he was opting out of electoral politics and would be in the Rajya Sabha and devote more time to the party. NCP has two retiring members Y P Trivedi and Janardhan Waghmare.

State NCP president Bhaskar Jadhav said Pawar would file his papers on January 24 and the name of the second candidate will be finalised tomorrow.