UP Rajya Sabha Elections: BJP Releases List of 8 Candidates; Ministers Hardeep Puri, BL Verma resigned | Today’s news
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released a list of eight candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, where 10 seats will go to polls. Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma, both among the BJP members whose Rajya Sabha terms are ending, were not included in the list.
The eight candidates named by the BJP are Uttar Pradesh Minister Dharam Pal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar, according to a party statement.
“The list has three candidates from upper castes, including Radhakant Ojha and Gopi Krishna Pandey, both Brahmins. Two of the candidates are women, three are from other backward classes and two are from scheduled castes,” PTI quoted a BJP leader as saying.
The names of all the eight candidates have been cleared by the BJP’s Central Election Commission, the party said.
Other Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh whose terms are ending include Arun Singh, Brijlal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Neerja Shekhar, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema and Dr Dinesh Sharma.
SP appoints two candidates
The Samajwadi Party has announced Professor Ramgopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani as its two candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had earlier announced the schedule for biennial elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats, including 10 from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand. Seats will become available in November once the current members’ terms expire.
Survey of MS in Uttarakhand
Naresh Bansal is the only outgoing Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand. On 4 October, the BJP announced Dinesh Arya as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand.
Bengal RS by-election
Meanwhile, a by-election will be held for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat in West Bengal following the resignation of TMC MP Rukmini Mallik. The BJP has named Rukmini Mallick, also known as Koel Mallick, as its candidate for the by-election.
Talking to reporters, Mallick said she was impressed by the development work done in West Bengal in recent months and joined the BJP with the intention of contributing to the process. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Suvenda Adhikari and said she wanted to serve the people by following their example.
She said she considered her nomination as a major responsibility and wanted to focus on issues affecting the common people rather than just criticizing the government, as reported by PTI. Recalling conversations with her father about issues in the state, Mallick said she now wants to raise those concerns and work on them on the ground.
Rajya Sabha poll on 16 October
The deadline for submitting nominations is October 6, followed by the review of nomination papers on October 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9. Voting for the Rajya Sabha seats will be held on October 16 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, with counting scheduled for the same day.
