Rajya Sabha polls: BJP fields Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand, Koel Mallick from Bengal

Ahead of the October 16 Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP finalised candidate names for Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Oct 5, 2026 05:27 AM IST

Koel Mallick quit as Trinamool's Rajya Sabha MP in July

The BJP Sunday announced Dinesh Arya and former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and actor Rukmini alias Koel Mallick as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Uttarakhand and West Bengal, respectively.

Biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, 10 from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, are scheduled for October 16, alongside a bypoll in West Bengal. Mallick will contest the West Bengal bypoll to retain the seat after joining the BJP following the TMC’s defeat in the Assembly elections.

Arya, an organisational leader with ties to both the RSS and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, currently serves as vice chairperson of the state’s Water Resources Management and Regulatory Commission, a position equivalent to a state Cabinet minister.

Story continues below. Subscribe to see fewer ads.

TMC split and Mallick’s nomination

Mallick, a prominent figure in Bengali cinema, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the TMC in April. She subsequently resigned and joined the BJP in July as part of a split within TMC ranks, during which 18 MPs separated, merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and extended support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

With the October 6 deadline for filing nominations approaching, BJP leaders held discussions at the party headquarters in New Delhi to finalise candidates for the remaining seats, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. Party sources said the BJP is prioritising women candidates and experienced organisational workers as it seeks to expand its current tally of 116 seats in the 245-member House.

In Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats are falling vacant, eight of which are currently held by the BJP, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) hold one each. The single seat falling vacant in Uttarakhand is held by BJP MP Naresh Bansal.

While BJP leaders expressed confidence in retaining all eight seats in Uttar Pradesh, party insiders noted that one seat could be contested. With 256 MLAs in the 403-member UP Assembly, the party falls slightly short of the required first-preference votes (37 per seat) to secure all eight seats outright without opposition.

Story continues below this ad

Currently, the BJP-led NDA holds 150 seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, while non-NDA parties account for just over 100 seats.

Jatin Anand

Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 17 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism. Expertise High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including: The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls. National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus. Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities. National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements. Academic Credentials: Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions. Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More

Lalmani Verma

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More

Loading Recommendations...

Oct 06: Latest News

Live Blog