New Delhi/Lucknow: The BJP on Monday announced the names of eight candidates, including minister Dharampal Singh, for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, dropping Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and all others who are set to complete their terms next month.
The party also fielded Shruti Gangwar, daughter of Jharkhand Governor and former Union minister Santosh Gangwar, as its candidate from the state.
The other seven candidates are Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, a BJP statement said. The names of these eight candidates have been approved by the BJP Central Election Committee, the party said.
Among the Rajya Sabha members retiring from the state are BJP leaders Hardeep Singh Puri, B L Verma, Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal and Seema Dwivedi, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP’s Ramji Gautam.
Verma, who is also a Union minister, did not find a mention in the list of Rajya Sabha candidates from UP.
Sources in the BJP said the party approved the names of its candidates keeping in mind balancing of social, regional and caste combinations. “The list has three candidates from the upper castes, including Radhakant Ojha and Gopi Krishna Pandey, both Brahmins, while three others come from the OBCs and two from SCs,” a party leader said.
Of the eight candidates, two are women,” a BJP leader said.
While UP minister Dharampal Singh (Lodh), Shruti Gangwar (Kurmi) and Prakash Pal are OBCs, Vidya Sagar Sonkar and Priyanka Singh Rawat are Dalits, and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan is a Thakur.
Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal will be held on October 16. These include 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, along with a bypoll to one seat from West Bengal. The terms of the sitting members from UP and Uttarakhand end on November 25.
The Rajya Sabha seat held by former UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma has also been vacant since September 11, when his resignation took effect following his appointment as the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. All eight BJP candidates will file their nominations on Tuesday, the last day for doing so.
