BJP announces eight candidates for the October 16 Rajya Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh.
Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma are not renominated by the BJP.
Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar are among the party’s two women nominees.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced eight candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, leaving Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri out of its list despite his name having featured among those reported to be under consideration for another term. BL Verma, another Union minister whose Rajya Sabha term is due to end, has also not been renominated.
Former Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar, a prominent member of the Uttar Pradesh BJP and daughter of former Union minister and incumbent Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar, are among the eight nominees. The other candidates are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan.
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation over the BJP's choices for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats being contested in Uttar Pradesh, with several names reported as possible contenders before the party finalised its nominees.
Puri, Verma not renominated
Puri's term in the Rajya Sabha is due to end on November 25. The Indian Express reported on Monday that party insiders had indicated that the Union Council of Ministers was due for a shake-up. Puri is the Union petroleum and natural gas minister.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that Arun Singh and Neeraj Shekhar were among the other BJP MPs whose terms in the Upper House were ending.
Before the announcement, Hindustan Times reported that Puri and Verma were among those expected to be considered for the seats, alongside Smriti Irani, Harish Dwivedi, Subrat Pathak, Ramapati Ram Tripathi and Durvijay Shakya. Its earlier reporting also named Kaushal Kishore, Rajveer Singh, Raghvendra Singh and Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe as possible contenders.
BJP's final choices differ from earlier reports
ThePrint reported before the announcement that the Uttar Pradesh BJP had sent a panel of around 25 names to the party's central leadership. Priyanka Rawat was among those reported to have figured in the panel and ultimately made the BJP's final list, while several other names under consideration did not make the cut.
Rawat, a former Lok Sabha MP from Barabanki, is one of the two women nominated by the BJP. Gangwar is the second woman nominee on the list.
The BJP-led alliance is expected to win eight of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats, although cross-voting and abstentions could affect the contest for the final seat, The Indian Express reported.
The contest also has implications for the Bahujan Samaj Party, whose sole Rajya Sabha member, Ramji Gautam, is due to retire. The Indian Express had reported that accommodating a BSP candidate could require the BJP-led alliance to give up one of the eight seats it is otherwise positioned to win.
The 10 seats include nine whose members' terms are ending and one that has been vacant since former BJP MP Dinesh Sharma resigned after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The nomination process is under way, with October 6 set as the last date for filing nominations, October 7 for scrutiny and October 9 for withdrawals. Polling and counting are scheduled for October 16.
