New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, after the latter was dropped from the party's list of candidates from Uttar Pradesh. In a statement, the BJP said that the party's central election committee has approved Puri's name for the bypoll.This comes after the Election Commission of India announced a by-election to fill a vacancy in the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The vacancy arose due to the resignation of L. Murugan, whose term was originally scheduled to continue until April 2, 2030.Hardeep Singh Puri, the only Sikh minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet, was earlier elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. His current Rajya Sabha term ends in November.The party has sent Puri, 74, to the Rajya Sabha twice. He had also unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier this month, the BJP announced eight candidates for biennial Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, seeking to strike a balance between caste representation and organisational experience. Two women candidates figure in the list, underscoring the party’s thrust on women's empowerment and women-led development.However, the most conspicuous absence from the list was Hardeep Singh Puri. Besides him, another Union Minister, B.L. Verma, and all other sitting MPs have been left out of the nominations.Meanwhile, the poll panel has decided to hold the by-election in Madhya Pradesh to ensure the seat does not remain vacant for an extended period and to uphold the constitutional requirement of timely representation in the Upper House of Parliament.

The Commission has fixed a tight schedule for the by-election. The last date for filing nominations is November 2 (Monday), followed by scrutiny of nominations on November 3 (Tuesday).Candidates can withdraw their nominations till November 5, 2026 (Thursday).Polling will be held on November 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with counting of votes beginning the same day at 5:00 p.m.The entire election process is required to be completed by November 16 (Monday).

/IANS