The Bharatiya Janata Party announced Dinesh Arya as its candidate for the 2026 Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand and Rukmini Mallick, known as Koel Mallick, from West Bengal. The Uttarakhand by‑election follows the completion of the term of sitting member Naresh Bansal. Mallick, an actress‑turned‑politician who recently switched from the Trinamool Congress, resigned as a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member in July, creating a casual vacancy that will be filled in a by‑election.
The Election Commission of India scheduled the biennial Rajya Sabha elections for 11 seats, announced on 22 September, and issued the notification on 29 September. Nominations must be filed by 6 October, with scrutiny on 7 October and a final withdrawal deadline on 9 October. Polling will take place on 16 October from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and counting will begin at 5 p.m. The 11 seats include ten from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, while the West Bengal election will fill the casual vacancy.
In Uttar Pradesh, the terms of ten sitting Rajya Sabha members are ending. The departing members are Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Brij Lal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji Gautam, B.L. Verma, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma, and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Earlier in the day, the BJP also announced its candidates for three Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies in the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council election. Smita Yogesh Jadhav will contest the Pune Division Graduates’ constituency, Sudhakar Vitthalrao Kohle will contest the Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency, and Kaustubh Muralidhar Gawde will contest the Pune Division Teachers’ constituency. The ruling alliance has agreed on a 3:1:1 split for the five seats, with the Nationalist Congress Party contesting the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituency and Shiv Sena contesting the Amravati Teachers’ constituency.
