New Delhi, October 4, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced Dinesh Arya as its candidate for the 2026 Rajya Sabha biennial election from Uttarakhand and actress-turned-politician Rukmini Mallick, popularly known as Koel Mallick, for the by-election in West Bengal.
In Uttarakhand, the election is necessitated by the completion of the term of sitting Rajya Sabha member Naresh Bansal. In West Bengal, the by-election has been necessitated by the resignation of Koel Mallick from the Trinamool Congress and her Rajya Sabha membership in July this year, following her switch to the BJP.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on September 22 that biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, along with a by-election for one seat from West Bengal, would be held on October 16.
Of the 11 seats going to polls, 10 are from Uttar Pradesh and one is from Uttarakhand. The West Bengal by-election will fill a casual vacancy in the Upper House.
The notification for the elections was issued on September 29, with October 6 set as the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 7, while candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.
Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with counting scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on the same day.
In Uttar Pradesh, the terms of 10 sitting Rajya Sabha members are due to expire. Those named in the announcement include Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Brij Lal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji Gautam, B.L. Verma, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Earlier on Sunday, the BJP also announced three candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council elections. The party has fielded Smita Yogesh Jadhav from the Pune Division Graduates’ constituency, Sudhakar Vitthalrao Kohle from the Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency and Kaustubh Muralidhar Gawde from the Pune Division Teachers’ constituency.
The ruling MahaYuti alliance has finalised a 3:1:1 seat-sharing formula for the five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, with the BJP contesting three, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena will contest one each. The NCP has been allotted the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituency, while the Shiv Sena will contest the Amravati Teachers’ constituency.
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