Rajya Sabha polls: BJP announces 8 candidates from Uttar Pradesh, one from Uttarakhand

File pic: Zee News

New Delhi: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and MP Neeraj Shekhar are among eight candidates nominated by the BJP for the November 9 Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh. The party also announced Naresh Bansal as its Rajya Sabha nominee from Uttarakhand.

Puri, Shekhar and party general secretary Arun Singh are all sitting MPs who have been renominated. Besides them, Geeta Shakya, Haridwar Dubey, Brijlal, BL Varma and Seema Dwivedi have been nominated.

Earlier this month, the Election Commission had announced elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, falling vacant on November 25.

With the BJP having 304 members in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, the election for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from the state may turn out to be a nearly one-sided affair for the party, feel poll analysts.

The BJP's all eight nominees for Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh are likely to win as the party has the three-fourth majority in the state assembly.

Similarly, party's nominee for Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand is also expected to win. With these nine new possible members, the BJP's own tally in Rajya Sabha will cross 90 in the 245-member house.

The ten Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh that are falling vacant are three of the BJP, four of the Samajwadi party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one of the Congress.