BJP weighs caste equations, new faces for UP Rajya Sabha polls

With 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh going to the polls on October 16, the BJP is weighing which outgoing MPs to renominate and which new candidates to field.The party is expected to win eight seats and field at least four new candidates, with its choices likely to reflect caste and regional calculations ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.Seven BJP MPs are completing their terms: Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Puri. Another seat fell vacant after Dinesh Sharma resigned on his appointment as Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Union minister BL Verma is seen as a strong contender for another term. The BJP may seek to retain him as a representative of the Lodhi community. Former Uttar Pradesh DGP Brij Lal is also in contention. A Dalit leader, he has served as chairperson of the state’s Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. The party is weighing whether to renominate Geeta Shakya and Seema Dwivedi or field them in the Assembly election. Shakya, an OBC leader and former president of the BJP’s OBC Morcha, is being discussed for another Rajya Sabha term. Dwivedi, a Brahmin leader and three-time former MLA, could be asked to contest an Assembly seat.Former Union minister Smriti Irani and Harish Dwivedi are among the possible new candidates. Both have been given charge of two states. Harish Dwivedi is being discussed as a Brahmin candidate. Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, is seeking another term, though his renomination remains uncertain. Arun Singh, a former BJP national general secretary from Purvanchal, is also in contention.- Ends