New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday announced Dinesh Arya as its candidate for the Uttarakhand Rajya Sabha biennial election and Rukmini Mallick,
popularly known as Koel Mallick for the Rajya Sabha bypoll in West Bengal. The names were approved by the party’s Central Election Committee.
The elections for the Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal will be held on October 16. The polls will cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, along with a separate bypoll for one seat in West Bengal.
In Uttarakhand, Arya has been chosen to contest the seat currently held by BJP MP Naresh Bansal. Bansal’s term is scheduled to end on November 25, which has led to the biennial election for the seat.
Koel Mallick gets BJP ticket from Bengal
The West Bengal bypoll has been necessitated by the resignation of Rukmini Mallick, popularly known as Koel Mallick, from the Rajya Sabha on July 16. She had entered the Upper House as a Trinamool Congress nominee earlier this year before resigning from the party and joining the BJP.
Mallick had been nominated by the TMC for the Rajya Sabha and took oath as an MP in April. She resigned from the Upper House after only a few months, without attending a session, according to reports. She has now been fielded by the BJP for the same seat that fell vacant after her resignation.
Rajya Sabha poll schedule
The Election Commission announced the schedule for the polls on September 22. The notification was issued on September 29 while October 6 is the last date for filing nominations. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on October 7, followed by the withdrawal deadline on October 9.
Polling will take place on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, while counting of votes will begin at 5 pm on the same day.
The BJP’s announcement comes ahead of the October 16 contest with Arya set to take on the Uttarakhand seat and Mallick seeking a return to the Rajya Sabha, this time as a BJP candidate.
