BJP names 8 RS candidates from UP; Hardeep Puri dropped
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its list of eight candidates for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. The elections are scheduled to be held on October 16. Notably, the party has decided not to renominate any sitting MPs, including Union Ministers Hardeep Puri and BL Verma.
Candidate details
List includes 2 women, an OBC leader
Among the eight candidates are two women, former MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar.
The list also includes Dharampal Singh, an OBC leader and Animal Husbandry Minister in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's cabinet.
Other candidates include Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan.
Election outlook
SP expected to win 2 seats
There are 10 vacancies from UP, and the BJP is expected to win eight of them comfortably.
For nine seats, the elections were necessitated, as the terms of the sitting MPs will end on November 25. Puri is among those whose term is ending.
One seat has been vacant since September 11, when Dinesh Sharma resigned to become the lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) has the numbers to win the remaining two seats.