The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named two candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, fielding former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Rukmini Mallik, popularly known as Koel Mallick, from West Bengal and Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand.
Mallick, who originally entered the Upper House on a TMC ticket in April before resigning prior to the Monsoon Session in July, recently joined the BJP. Her nomination for the West Bengal vacancy marks a key political shift.
In Uttarakhand, the party nominated senior leader Dinesh Arya. A former Nainital district BJP chief accorded Minister of State status in the state, Arya’s elevation is seen as a strategic move ahead of upcoming state assembly elections.
Voting and counting for 12 Rajya Sabha seats—including 10 in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Uttarakhand and West Bengal—will take place on October 16. The BJP currently holds 116 seats in the 245-member house.
