Rajya Sabha 2026: All 10 Uttar Pradesh Members Elected Unopposed, BSP Loses Its Last Seat From the State
The BJP won eight seats and the Samajwadi Party two after two nominations were rejected, so no vote is needed on October 16. Uttarakhand and a West Bengal bypoll also went uncontested.
There will be no Rajya Sabha vote in Uttar Pradesh this year. All ten candidates for the state's ten seats were declared elected unopposed on Friday, October 9, 2026, the last day for withdrawing nominations. Returning officer Ajit Verma handed out the certificates in Lucknow.
Who was elected
Bharatiya Janata Party (8): - Dharampal Singh - Prakash Pal - Shruti Gangwar - Vidyasagar Sonkar - Priyanka Singh Rawat - Radhakant Ojha - Gopi Krishna Pandey - Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan
Samajwadi Party (2): - Ram Gopal Yadav, a senior SP leader - Dhanraj Nathwani, described by the Free Press Journal as an executive associated with Reliance Industries. His father, Parimal Nathwani, is an independent Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand.
Why there was no vote
Rajya Sabha members are elected by the members of each state's Legislative Assembly. When the number of valid candidates equals the number of seats after the withdrawal deadline, all of them are declared elected without polling.
In Uttar Pradesh, the nominations of two independent candidates were rejected at scrutiny, and no one withdrew. That left exactly ten candidates for ten seats, so the polling scheduled for October 16 was not needed in the state. The split, eight for the BJP and two for the SP, reflects the parties' strength in the Assembly.
The BSP loses its UP seat
Of the ten seats falling vacant, eight were held by the BJP, one by the SP and one by the Bahujan Samaj Party. With no BSP candidate this time, the party will have no Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh once the outgoing members' terms end on November 25, according to the Free Press Journal. It is a notable moment for a party that has governed Uttar Pradesh in the past.
Other states
According to India TV, the BJP also won uncontested in two other contests the same day:
- Uttarakhand: Dinesh Arya was elected unopposed to the state's seat.
- West Bengal: Rukmini (Koel) Mallik was elected unopposed in a by-election.
Where more candidates than seats remain in any state, polling and counting will take place on October 16.
What it means
In Uttar Pradesh the BJP keeps the eight seats it held among those falling vacant, and the Samajwadi Party gains one, taking the seat count from one to two, at the expense of the BSP. Among those elected is Ram Gopal Yadav, a senior SP leader.
Sources
This article draws on the following reporting. Dates are when each source was originally published.
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