RPN, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Mahendra Bhatt in BJP's list for RS candidates

BJP on Sunday declared former Congressman and Union minister RPN Singh as its candidate from Uttar Pradesh for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections. Sudhanshu Trivedi, who gets a second term, and Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt also figured in the list of 14 names from seven states - UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Haryana and West Bengal.

Seven candidates have been announced from UP. RPN Singh, a Kurmi leader from east UP, had switched over to BJP from Congress in January 2022 and was widely expected to fight the Lok Sabha elections. In Congress, he was considered a part of Rahul Gandhi's coterie and also served as minister of state for home in the Manmohan Singh government. Trivedi, who is also a BJP spokesperson and is close to defence minister Rajnath Singh, will get another term.

Mahendra Bhatt, who hails from Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, is the lone BJP candidate from the state.


BJP has denied another term to former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Bhim Singh, a former minister in the state and Bihar BJP's Mahila Morcha head Dharamsheela Gupta have been given the ticket.

Former Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, who represented Tohana seat in the assembly, has been fielded from the state. Raja Devendra Pratap Singh is the candidate from Chhattisgarh while Narayana Krishanasa Bhandage will be in the fray from Karnataka. Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Mathura in the past, will now come to Rajya Sabha from UP on BJP ticket. Sadhna Singh, who has served as MLA from the Mughalsarai seat in Chandauli district of UP, has also been fielded from the state. Amarpal Maurya, BJP state unit general secretary; Sangita Balwant, who lost the Ghazipur city seat in the 2022 UP elections; and former Agra mayor Navin Jain are the others from UP in the list.

Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson in West Bengal, has been nominated by the party.