New Delhi. Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday announced the names of two candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections 2026. The party's Central Election Committee has named Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand and actress Rukmini Mallik, popularly known as Koel Mallik, as its candidates for the by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat in West Bengal. Both names were announced on 4 October.
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Voting and counting of votes for 12 Rajya Sabha seats will take place on October 16. Of these, there are biennial elections on 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one seat in Uttarakhand, while by-elections are being held on one seat in West Bengal. The Bengal seat fell vacant after Rukmini Mallik's resignation from TMC and Rajya Sabha.
Koel Mallik left TMC and joined BJP
Rukmini Mallick is a well-known actress of Bengali films and is the daughter of actor Ranjit Mallick. She started politics with TMC and reached Rajya Sabha on the party ticket. She later resigned from TMC as well as Rajya Sabha membership and joined BJP. Now BJP has made him its candidate on the same vacant seat.
This election in West Bengal is also important because if it wins the by-election, BJP can get an additional seat in the Rajya Sabha. According to the Election Commission's schedule, the last date for nomination is October 6 and voting will take place on October 16.
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Elections on 10 seats in UP, BJP is expected to win 8 seats.
Based on the current assembly strength of 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP alliance is expected to get eight seats, while SP can get two seats. The tenure of many current BJP members including Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on these seats is ending. The tenure of SP's Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP's Ramji Gautam is also ending.
The tenure of current BJP MP Naresh Bansal in Uttarakhand is coming to an end. Considering BJP's majority in the Assembly, the party's position on this seat is considered strong. BJP has made Dinesh Arya its candidate from here.