All 10 UP Rajya Sabha candidates elected unopposed as BJP wins 8 and SP 2; Dinesh Arya wins Uttarakhand seat
Eight BJP and two Samajwadi Party candidates from Uttar Pradesh, and BJP's Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand, were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on 9 October.
All 10 candidates for Uttar Pradesh’s Rajya Sabha seats, eight from the BJP and two from the Samajwadi Party (SP), were declared elected unopposed on Friday, 9 October. In Uttarakhand, BJP candidate Dinesh Arya was also elected unopposed to the state’s one seat. The results mean no voting will be needed on 16 October, the date originally set for polling.
Ajit Verma, the returning officer and Special Secretary of the UP Vidhan Sabha, said all 10 candidates in the fray had been elected unopposed, The Tribune reported.
Who has been elected from Uttar Pradesh
According to The Week and India TV, the new members are:
- BJP (8): Dharampal Singh, Ram Prakash Pal, Shruti Gangwar, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Radhakant Ojha, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh
- Samajwadi Party (2): Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani
The Week described Nathwani as an executive at Reliance Industries. The Tribune reported that the terms of nine Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh end on 25 November.
According to India TV, the result ends the Bahujan Samaj Party’s representation in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh rules out a third SP candidate
There had been speculation that the SP might field a third candidate. The Week reported that party chief Akhilesh Yadav dismissed the idea.
Now our focus is not on three, but on 403.
Akhilesh Yadav, SP president, as quoted by The Week
Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly seats.
Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, returning officer Hem Chandra Pant handed Dinesh Arya his certificate of election after Friday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations, passed without any rival in the race, ThePrint reported. Neither the Congress nor any other party fielded a candidate.
- Arya replaces BJP colleague Naresh Bansal, whose six-year term ends on 25 November
- He is from Haldwani in Nainital district and is seen as a close associate of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami
- He was Nainital district BJP president from 2007 to 2010 and later a national secretary of the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha
- He is currently a Minister of State and vice-chairman of the state Drinking Water Monitoring Council
The Daily Rostrum earlier reported on the BJP’s list of candidates for these seats on 6 October.
Sources: The Tribune, The Week, India TV, ThePrint.
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