The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha biennial elections in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, with eight names receiving approval from the party’s Central Election Committee.
The announcement was made through a press release issued by the BJP’s central office in New Delhi on October 5, 2026. The elections are scheduled to fill seats in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
The eight candidates named by the party are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, and Shruti Gangwar.
Who Are The BJP’s 8 Candidates?
1. Dharampal Singh
Dharampal Singh is a Cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and represents the Aonla Assembly constituency in Bareilly. He is regarded as a prominent Lodhi Rajput leader in western Uttar Pradesh and has held responsibilities in both the BJP organisation and the state government.
2. Radhakant Ojha
A senior advocate from Prayagraj, Ojha has also served as president of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association. His nomination brings a prominent legal figure into the BJP’s Rajya Sabha line up and adds representation from the Brahmin community.
3. Prakash Pal
Pal heads the BJP Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Morcha. He has previously served as the regional president of the Kanpur Bundelkhand region. He is associated with the Gadariya and Pal communities and is known for his organisational work within the party.
4. Vidya Sagar Sonkar
Sonkar is a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and has previously served as a BJP state general secretary. A leader from the Jaunpur and Purvanchal region, he has held several organisational responsibilities within the party.
5. Gopi Krishna Pandey
Pandey is a senior BJP organisational leader who has worked on party coordination and organisational expansion. He has been active across the Purvanchal and Awadh regions and is associated with the party’s outreach among the Brahmin community.
6. Priyanka Singh Rawat
A former Lok Sabha MP from Barabanki, Rawat currently serves as a BJP state secretary. She is among the two women named in the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh list and has been active on public issues and matters related to women’s representation.
7. Ram Pratap Chauhan
Chauhan is a former MLA from Etmadpur in Agra and a senior BJP leader. He has been associated with the party organisation for several years and has a political base in the Braj region.
8. Shruti Gangwar
Gangwar is a BJP leader from the Rohilkhand and Bareilly region. Her nomination adds another woman to the party’s list and also brings representation from the Kurmi community, an OBC group with a significant presence in the region.
Hardeep Singh Puri, BL Verma Not In List
With the new list, sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma have not been renominated by the BJP. Both are among the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh MPs whose terms are set to end.
Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal will be held on October 16. The polls cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, while the West Bengal seat will be contested through a bypoll.
The terms of the sitting Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are due to end on November 25.
Among the members retiring from Uttar Pradesh are BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Singh Puri. The outgoing members also include Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP leader Ramji Gautam.
Meanwhile, another Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh has remained vacant since September 11, when the resignation of former state deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma took effect.
Sharma stepped down from the Upper House after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
