BJP Names Ex Deputy Chief Minister As Rajya Sabha Candidate From UP

The BJP on Sunday named former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma as its candidate for the September 15 by-election to a Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

The bypoll has been necessitated due to the death of incumbent MP Hardwar Dubey, who was also from the BJP. The term of the seat is till November 2026.

Speaking to PTI, Dinesh Sharma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior party leaders for the opportunity to be a member of the Upper House of Parliament.

"I will work for the party to ensure that Narendra Modi ji becomes the prime minister for the third time," Sharma, who is a member of the UP legislative council, said.

Mr Sharma's election is all but certain due to the strong majority the BJP enjoys in the state assembly. Like Dubey, he is also from the Brahmin community.

In the 403-member UP legislative assembly, the BJP has 255 MLAs, while its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party have 13 MLAs and six MLAs respectively. New NDA partner SBSP has 6 MLAs in the Assembly.

The SP has 108 MLAs and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has nine MLAs. Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two MLAs each, while the BSP has one MLA. One seat (Ghosi) is vacant.

Mr Sharma was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the first term of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government between 2017-22.

He held portfolios of secondary education, higher education, science and technology and IT and electronics.

After being replaced by Brajesh Pathak following the 2022 UP Assembly polls, Sharma had said that he will continue to strengthen the party to ensure that it emerges winner in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"I will continue to work for the party and strengthen it. As a party worker, I will strive to ensure that the BJP emerges victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Mr Sharma had earlier told PTI.

The 59-year-old leader has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party for long but emerged on the central stage of politics with his appointment as its National Vice President in August 2014 after the party's landslide victory in the parliamentary polls.

After he was made the in-charge of party affairs in Gujarat, his stature in the party grew immensely.

He was first elected as the Mayor of Lucknow in 2008. He stood for re-election in 2012 and defeated his nearest rival Neeraj Bora of the Congress (now a BJP MLA from Lucknow North) by over 1.71 lakh votes.

It was on his invitation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the Lucknow Ramlila in October 2016.

He also played a key role in the organisation (2014-15) during its membership drive when 10 crore new members were roped in.

Mr Sharma has also been a party observer to Haryana for electing its chief minister and to Rajasthan to elect the state BJP chief.

He was also the state chief of the UP Mayor Council from 2007 to March 18, 2017.

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