BJP fields Hardeep Singh Puri in Rajya Sabha poll. Today’s news
New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was on Wednesday nominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Rajya Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh, paving the way for him to return to the Upper House as his current term from Uttar Pradesh comes to an end.
The BJP Central Election Committee has approved Puri’s candidature, the party said in a statement on Wednesday. The nomination comes weeks after the party dropped him from its list of eight candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, raising questions about his political future.
Puri, 74, is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh and his term will end on November 25.
The by-election was prompted by the resignation of Union Minister of State L. Murugan, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on 14 October to focus on strengthening the BJP in Tamil Nadu. His term was set to end on 2 April 2030. Murugan was re-elected on 2 April 2024, with his second term beginning the following day.
Political analysts see the BJP’s decision to nominate Puri as an attempt to avoid the impression that the government is acting under pressure.
“In the current context, the government would not want to look weak,” said Nishant Kumar, associate professor at the Center for Policy Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
“The circumstances that led to the cabinet minister’s resignation did not sit well with the government’s supporters and also gave the opposition an opportunity to demand another recall. The BJP would not want to give the impression that it is responding to pressure over the Epstein files allegations. If seen as acting in accordance with these demands, the matter could snowball into another pressure tactic by the opposition and be portrayed as an admission of wrongdoing.”
“With the Punjab elections coming up, the BJP may also not want to appear to be punishing a Sikh minister without solid evidence of wrongdoing. Puri also worked hard to diversify India’s energy sources during this period of unrest. He realized that there might have been another consideration behind this decision,” Kumar added.
Elections to the Madhya Pradesh seat are scheduled for November 12 and counting will take place on the same day. The deadline for submitting nominations is November 2.
If elected, Puri will serve the remainder of Murugan’s term until 2 April 2030, giving him about three years and five months in the upper house. His term would be extended by about a year after the parliamentary elections in 2029.
The BJP has a majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, whose elected members vote to elect Rajya Sabha representatives, giving its candidate an edge in the by-election.
Puri is a former graduate and his nomination offers him a way to retain his membership in Parliament even after his current Rajya Sabha term ends.
Members of the Rajya Sabha serve for six years, compared to the five-year term of the Lok Sabha, unless the lower house is dissolved earlier.
