Twelve Candidates Vie for Ten Rajya Sabha Seats in Uttar Pradesh

Twelve candidates have officially entered the race for ten Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, forcing a potential contest as the state’s nomination window closed on October 6. The filing period concluded with a flurry of activity, seeing nine submissions on the final day alone, including eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Editorial·October 7, 2026·reads: 1,244

Twelve Candidates Vie for Ten Rajya Sabha Seats in Uttar Pradesh

The BJP's late-stage push includes a slate of eight nominees: Dharmapal Singh, Radha Kant Ojha, Ram Prakash Pal, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh, and Shruti Gangwar. They join independent candidates Omkar Nath Chaurasiya and Kante Sayanna in the field. Three candidates had submitted their paperwork prior to the final deadline.

Election officials will begin the scrutiny of these papers on October 7, with a final deadline for withdrawals set for October 9. Should the number of candidates exceed the available seats, polling will take place on October 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, followed immediately by the counting of votes. These elections are part of a broader process to fill 11 Upper House seats across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as the terms of the current representatives expire on November 25.