Eight BJP, two SP candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh

All 10 candidates in the fray for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Uttar Pradesh — eight from the BJP and two from the Samajwadi Party — were declared elected unopposed on Friday, an official said.

"All the 10 candidates who were in the fray for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections — eight from the BJP and two from the SP — have been declared elected unopposed," Returning Officer Ajit Verma, who is also the Special Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, told PTI.

Verma said all the winning candidates except SP nominee Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani collected their certificates themselves. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BJP candidate Radhakant Ojha had their certificates collected through representatives.

The terms of 10 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh end on November 25, necessitating the biennial elections.

Among the BJP nominees, state minister Dharampal Singh, an OBC leader from the Lodh community, dedicated his election to the Upper House to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, whom he described as his political mentor.

Dharampal's nomination is seen as the BJP's attempt to replace one Lodh leader with another. Kalyan Singh's other protege, Union minister B L Verma, who also belongs to the Lodh community and hails from Badaun, was not renominated. His Rajya Sabha term ends on November 25.

After receiving his election certificate, Dharampal paid tribute at a statue of Kalyan Singh opposite the municipal corporation office.

"We will win 2027 UP polls to make it a hat-trick in UP," he said.

The other BJP candidates elected unopposed are party OBC wing chief Prakash Pal, Shruti Gangwar, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Priyanka Rawat, Radhakant Ojha, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan. The nominees include candidates from OBC, Scheduled Caste, Brahmin and Thakur communities, with party leaders saying the selection reflected an effort to represent different backgrounds and regions.

The two SP candidates are Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani.

Among the members retiring from Uttar Pradesh are Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and B L Verma, BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal and Seema Dwivedi, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP's Ramji Gautam.

The Rajya Sabha seat held by former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma has been vacant since September 11, following his resignation after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The SP had earlier been expected to field a third candidate to force a contest for the 10th seat. However, party chief Akhilesh Yadav ended the speculation on Tuesday, the last day for filing nominations, saying on X, "Now, our focus is not on three, but on 403."

He was referring to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, with elections due in early 2027.