BJP Announces Candidates For UP Rajya Sabha Polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, with eight names receiving approval from the party’s Central Election Committee.

The announcement was made through a press release issued by the BJP’s central office in New Delhi on October 5, 2026. The elections are scheduled to fill seats in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

The eight candidates named by the party are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar.

With the new list, sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma have not been renominated by the BJP. Both are among the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh MPs whose terms are set to end.

Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal will be held on October 16. The polls cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, while the West Bengal seat will be contested through a bypoll.

The terms of the sitting Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are due to end on November 25.

Among the members retiring from Uttar Pradesh are BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Singh Puri. The outgoing members also include Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP leader Ramji Gautam.