No seat for Hardeep Puri, Smriti Irani; BJP announces eight Rajya Sabha candidates in UP

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party announced its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The list of candidates was prepared after taking caste and community equations into consideration. The election for the Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is scheduled for October 16.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri does not feature in the list, though he was expected to be considered for another term in the Rajya Sabha. Union Minister of State B.L. Verma and former Union Minister Smriti Irani have also not been included in the list.

The BJP candidates are Uttar Pradesh Minister Dharampal Singh, lawyer Radhakant Ojha, State BJP OBC Morcha President Prakash Pal, former MP Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, former MP Priyanka Singh Rawat, State General Secretary Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, and Shruti Gangwar (daughter of Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar).

Elections are set to be held for a total of ten Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Current numerical strength indicates that the BJP is assured of winning seven of these seats; the party is also making efforts to secure an eighth seat. The Samajwadi Party already announced two candidates, and there are reports that it might field a third candidate too.

The eight candidates of BJP will file their nomination papers in Lucknow tomorrow at 11:30 AM. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and State BJP President Pankaj Chaudhary will attend the event. BJP ensured representation for various caste and community groups in the selection of candidates, keeping the upcoming assembly elections in mind. The list includes three candidates from OBC categories, three from the general category, and two from Scheduled Castes. Two women have also secured a place on the list of candidates.