BJP names 8 candidates for UP Rajya Sabha polls, 2 Union ministers miss out
2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Oct 5, 2026 05:33 PM IST
The BJP on Monday announced eight candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, leaving out Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma, whose terms in the Upper House are set to end next month. The omission of the two ministers comes amid indications that the Union Cabinet could be reshuffled.
The BJP’s list comprises three OBC candidates, two Brahmins, two Dalits and one Thakur.
Among the OBC candidates is Dharampal Singh, the BJP MLA from Aonla in Bareilly district and a Cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, where he holds the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development portfolio. Singh belongs to the Lodh community, and his nomination is being seen as a replacement for Verma, who also belongs to the community.
The Lodh community is influential in the Bundelkhand and Rohilkhand regions of Uttar Pradesh and has traditionally been associated with the BJP. Its support for the party is also linked to former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, one of the BJP’s tallest OBC leaders in the state.
The other two OBC nominees are Prakash Pal, state president of the BJP’s OBC Morcha who hails from Kanpur district, and Shruti Gangwar of Bareilly. Shruti is the daughter of Jharkhand Governor and former Union minister Santosh Gangwar. Sources said she had earlier sought a BJP ticket to contest the Assembly election from the Baheri seat in Bareilly.
The two Brahmin nominees are Radha Kant Ojha, a lawyer from Prayagraj and younger brother of former minister Shivakant Ojha, and Gopi Krishna Pandey of Kanpur, who has worked in the party’s farmer and youth wings.
The Dalit nominees are former Barabanki MP Priyanka Singh Rawat, currently a state BJP vice-president, and Vidya Sagar Sonkar of Jaunpur, a former state general secretary who has previously also served as an MLC.
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The eighth nominee, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, is from Agra and is a state BJP general secretary. He has been involved in supervising several key party campaigns.
