Former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and member of UP Legislative Council, Dinesh Sharma, has been declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from the state as he was the only candidate to file nomination paper for the September 15 by-election.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Hardwar Dubey, who was also from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The term of the seat is till November 2026.
“Dinesh Sharma has been declared elected unopposed as no other candidate had filed nomination papers,” Assistant Returning Officer Ajit Sharma said.
After being elected unopposed, Sharma, in a statement, expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and BJP’s central and state leaderships.
He added that he would try to live up to the trust reposed in him by the party leadership.
“Now the only goal will be to contribute to form the (BJP) government for the third time in 2024 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre, and to establish an emerging India on top of the world under his leadership,” Sharma said, adding that the achievements of the Central and state governments were unmatched.
“Schemes for the welfare of the poor are not being liked by the opposition parties who exploit the poor. This is the reason for their nervousness,” Sharma said.
Sharma’s election to the Rajya Sabha was all but certain due to the huge majority the BJP has in the state assembly. Like Dubey, Sharma is also from the Brahmin community. Sharma was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the first term of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government between 2017 and 2022.