BJP Names Eight Rajya Sabha Candidates From Uttar Pradesh, Drops All Sitting Members
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced eight candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, and in doing so dropped all eight of its sitting members from the State, including two Union ministers. The announcement came a day before the deadline for filing nominations.
The party named Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Dharampal Singh, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar as its candidates from Uttar Pradesh.
The list reflects an effort to balance representation across social groups. Three of the nominees belong to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Dharampal Singh, a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, is from the Lodhi community. Prakash Pal is the State president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Morcha. Shruti Gangwar, from the Kurmi community, is from the Rohilkhand region.
Two of the candidates are Brahmins. Radhakant Ojha is a former president of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association, while Gopi Krishna Pandey is a senior party functionary.
Two candidates belong to Scheduled Castes. Vidyasagar Sonkar is from the Khatik community and is a former State general secretary of the party. Priyanka Singh Rawat, from the Pasi community, is a former member of Parliament from the Barabanki Lok Sabha seat. Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan completes the list of eight.
What has drawn particular notice is the party's decision not to renominate any of its outgoing Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh, among them Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State B.L. Verma, whose terms are ending. The move has prompted discussion about whether the two will continue in the Union Council of Ministers. The BJP has not made any announcement on the matter, and no reason has been given for the change.
Elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for October 16. Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the MLAs of the State through proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. On the strength of its numbers in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP is in a position to win at least seven of the ten seats.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) has so far named two candidates — senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and industrialist Dhanraj Nathwani — and has indicated it may contest a third seat. In that case, polling will be held on October 16 as scheduled. Under the rules, a contest is held only when the number of candidates exceeds the number of seats to be filled.
Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha, the largest contingent from any State. Members of the Upper House serve six-year terms, with roughly one-third of the House retiring every two years, which is why the elections are held biennially. The BJP had been weighing several names for the eight seats, with former Union ministers and senior party leaders among those discussed before the decision was finalised.
The outcome of the October 16 elections will be determined by the votes of MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, where the BJP-led alliance holds a clear majority.
