BJP releases list of candidates for Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (October 5, 2026) announced eight candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming biennial Rajya Sabha polls.

The party has named Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Dharampal Singh, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar as its candidates.

The Rajya Sabha elections for 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held on October 16. The BJP is in a position to win at least seven seats from the State based on its strength in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has filed two candidates till now, and is likely to contest the third seat. In that case polling will be on October 16. The SP filed senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and industrialist Dhanraj Nathwani as its candidates. The BJP’s announcement comes a day before the deadline for filing nominations.

The BJP had been considering several names for the eight seats, with former Union Ministers and senior party leaders among those discussed in the run-up to the announcement. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, whose term from U.P. in Rajya Sabha is ending has not been repeated by the BJP.

For the last stage of Rajya Sabha polls, the notification was issued on September 29, 2026. The last date of filing nomination is on October 6, 2026, scrutiny of the nomination will be on October 7 and last date for withdrawal of nomination is on October 9, 2026. The elections to the Rajya Sabha will be held on October 16, 2026.

The 2026 Rajya Sabha elections will be held as part of a routine six-year cycle of the upper house of the Parliamen between March and November to elect 72 of its 245 members, of which the States through their legislators elect 233, and the remaining 12 are appointed by the President.[

Published - October 05, 2026 03:34 pm IST

Powered by CM Sarkar Geeta Reporter