Lucknow, September 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday announced Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani as its two candidates for the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
The candidates are scheduled to file their nomination papers at 11 am in the presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Announcing the decision on X, the party said, “Samajwadi Party’s authorised Rajya Sabha candidates Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani will file their nomination papers at 11 am in the presence of the Honourable National President Akhilesh Yadav.”
The announcement comes ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for October 16.
Before the SP announced its candidates, Uttar Pradesh Minister O.P. Rajbhar questioned whether Akhilesh Yadav would select candidates in line with the party’s PDA slogan, which refers to Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (backward classes, Dalits and minorities).
In a post on X, Rajbhar asked whether the candidates would represent these communities, making pointed remarks about family members, wealthy individuals and people with criminal backgrounds.
“Akhilesh ji, I’ve heard you’re going to field three candidates for the Rajya Sabha. Tell me, will all three be from your ‘PDA’ or not? The first one is Professor Sahab. He’s from your PDA, ‘P’ for family. Now, who will it be for ‘D’ and ‘A’? Will there be some ‘wealthy’ person for D? A ‘criminal’ for A?” Rajbhar said.
He added that backward-class, Dalit and Muslim communities wanted to know whether the SP would send family members, wealthy individuals and people with criminal backgrounds to the Upper House. Rajbhar also advised Akhilesh Yadav not to risk losing the second seat while attempting to secure three.
On September 22, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, along with a by-election for one seat from West Bengal, to be held on October 16.
Of the 11 seats covered by the biennial elections, 10 are from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand. The West Bengal by-election will fill a casual vacancy in the Upper House.
According to the ECI schedule, the notification for the elections was issued on September 29, while October 6 is the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 7, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.
Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, with counting scheduled to begin at 5 pm on the same day.
The terms of 10 sitting Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh are set to expire. Those listed include Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Brij Lal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji Gautam, B.L. Verma, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma and Hardeep Singh Puri.
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