New Delhi: In a surprise list of eight candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has dropped the names of Union Minister Hardeep Puri and senior leader BL Verma, while nominating UP Cabi…

New Delhi: In a surprise list of eight candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has dropped the names of Union Minister Hardeep Puri and senior leader BL Verma, while nominating UP Cabinet Minister Dharmpal Singh to the Upper House.Among the eight candidates named by the party are Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar. Gangwar is the daughter of former Union Minister Santosh Gangwar.Those who did not receive re-nomination are Arun Singh, Seema Dwivedi, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, Geeta Shakya and Dinesh Sharma; Sharma is now the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Polling for 10 vacant seats will be held on October 16. Of these, the BJP is expected to win eight and the Samajwadi Party two, depending on their respective Assembly strength. So far, both parties have fielded eight and two candidates, respectively. If either party fields any more candidates than this, it will force a contest.BJP’s Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha picks an attempt to get caste equations right before assembly polls With the eight names, the BJP has sought to strike a caste balance in the state ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in 2027. The BJP’s list has the names of three upper-caste candidates, including a Thakur face, three OBC faces and two Scheduled Caste candidates. The three OBC faces are Dharmpal Singh, Prakash Pal and Shruti Gangwar, representing the Lodhi, Pal and Kurmi communities.Vidyasagar Sonkar and Priyanka Singh Rawat are the Scheduled Caste (Dalit) faces, while Radhakant Ojha and Gopi Krishna Pandey are the Brahmin nominees. The lone Thakur face is Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan. The names come amid intense dissatisfaction among the upper castes in UP in the aftermath of the UGC Regulations controversy.Among the women, Priyanka Rawat defeated Congress veteran PL Punia by two lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, while Gangwar is an IIT graduate with a base around Bareilly.In all, with this list, more than four Union Ministers have now either stepped down or will do so. George Kurien and Ravneet Singh Bittu had resigned, while Puri and Verma will have to step down once their respective terms end in November.In addition to that, Harsh Malhotra and Pankaj Chaudhary have been given organisational positions in the party and could let go of their ministerial roles as per party rules.

Source: Deccan Herald