BJP Releases List of 8 Candidates for Rajya Sabha Elections in UP, Drops Hardeep Puri

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has not found a place in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s list of eight candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, triggering speculation that changes could be in the offing in the Union Council of Ministers.

The BJP announced its nominees on Monday for the October 16 elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh. Party has chosen two women among its eight nominees - former Lok Sabha member Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar, daughter of Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar and a prominent BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh.

The remaining candidates are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan.

The election will determine the occupants of 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP currently holds eight of them, with one each held by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The contest is taking place just months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, expected early next year, adding considerable political significance to the exercise.

The BJP has 255 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly. Its NDA allies - Apna Dal (S) with 13, RLD with nine, SBSP with six and NISHAD Party with five - take the alliance's strength to 288.

However, the effective strength of the House is currently 396 following the deaths of seven MLAs over the past 11 months. On the present numbers, a Rajya Sabha candidate needs 37 first-preference votes.

The NDA could strengthen its position with support from Puja Pal, independent legislators Manoj Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Abhay Singh, as well as two MLAs of Raja Bhaiyya's Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik).

Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Abhay Singh were expelled by the SP in June 2025 after they cross-voted in the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections.

If all these additional votes come together, the NDA's effective strength could reach 294. It would still be two votes short of the 296 first-preference votes needed to elect all eight BJP candidates, assuming 37 votes are required for each candidate.

The current numbers indicate that the BJP is positioned to win seven of the 10 seats, while the SP has the strength to secure two. The battle for the remaining seat could therefore make the October 16 election particularly closely watched.

The Uttar Pradesh contest also has a bearing on the broader Rajya Sabha balance. The BJP-led NDA currently has 150 members in the 245-member Upper House.

With the Assembly election approaching, the Rajya Sabha contest is likely to be closely scrutinised not only for its impact on the Upper House but also for what it signals about political equations in Uttar Pradesh.