Eight Picks, Regional Balancing: BJP Finalises UP Rajya Sabha List; Hardeep Puri Left Out
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, whose Rajya Sabha term is set to end, was not included in the list.
By Sakshi
New Delhi, October 5: The BJP on Monday announced eight candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, including state minister Dharam Pal Singh. According to a BJP statement, the other candidates are Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar. It said the party’s central election committee had approved the names of all eight candidates.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, whose Rajya Sabha term is set to end, was not included in the list. BJP sources said the selection was made keeping in mind the social, regional and caste equations in Uttar Pradesh.
“The list has three candidates from the upper castes, including Radhakant Ojha and Gopi Krishna Pandey, both Brahmins. Two of the candidates are women, three are from the Other Backward Classes and two belong to the Scheduled Castes,” a BJP leader told PTI.
Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal will be held on October 16. Of these, 10 seats are from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, while the West Bengal seat will be contested in a by-election. The terms of the sitting members from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand end on November 25.
Among the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha members whose terms are ending are BJP leaders Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal, B L Verma and Seema Dwivedi, along with Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP's Ramji Gautam.
The Rajya Sabha seat held by former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma fell vacant after he resigned on September 11 following his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
According to the Election Commission's schedule, candidates must file their nominations by October 6. The nominations will be scrutinised on October 7, while the last date for withdrawal is October 9.
Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, with counting scheduled for the same day.
(Inputs From PTI)
