LUCKNOW: With Rajya Sabha elections for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for October 16, the BJP is expected to win eight seats, while the Samajwadi Party is likely to secure two. The ruling party is expected to announce its candidates in the first week of October.
According to party insiders, former Union minister Smriti Irani and former Basti MP Harish Dwivedi, who recently secured key positions in the BJP's national organisation, are almost certain to enter the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. Former Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi is also among the names being discussed as a possible BJP nominee.
The elections have been necessitated by the completion of the terms of nine sitting members, which are due to expire on November 25, while one seat, held by BJP's Dinesh Sharma, fell vacant earlier following his resignation after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The nine members whose terms are ending include BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya (also known as Chandraprabha), Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Singh Puri, as well as Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP's Ramji Gautam.
The BJP has a tradition of sending its national general secretaries to the Rajya Sabha, giving senior organisational leaders an opportunity to put forward their views in Parliament while retaining their stature and protocol during organisational tours across the country.
Smriti Irani was recently inducted into BJP president Nitin Nabin's team as a national general secretary. Against this backdrop, the party is preparing to send her to Parliament from Uttar Pradesh's quota.
Irani, who defeated former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his Amethi bastion in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, failed to retain the seat in 2024. She was defeated by Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of more than one lakh votes.
Harish Dwivedi, meanwhile, worked as a full-time RSS organiser until 2004 before becoming the BJP Yuva Morcha's state general secretary and later its state president. He contested the Basti Sadar Assembly seat in 2012 but finished third. In 2014 and 2019, he was elected MP from Basti for two consecutive terms.
At the organisational level, Dwivedi served as a national secretary in former BJP president JP Nadda's team and played an important role in the Assam and Rajasthan elections. He was recently appointed the party's national general secretary and given charge of key states, including Karnataka and Bihar.
Varun Gandhi, meanwhile, could be on the cusp of an unexpected political revival more than two years after he was sidelined by the BJP and denied a ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Political circles are abuzz with speculation that the BJP could nominate Varun to the Rajya Sabha, allowing the saffron party to bring back a prominent face who could serve as a counter to the Congress and, in particular, the Gandhi family.
According to a party insider, more than a Rajya Sabha seat could be in store for Varun, who has otherwise maintained a low profile over the past two years.
The speculation over his possible rehabilitation comes nearly six months after Varun met Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his family, a meeting that fuelled speculation about a thaw in his relationship with the BJP leadership.
Varun fell out of favour with the BJP after repeatedly and publicly criticising the party and the Modi government between late 2021 and 2023 over a range of economic, agrarian and administrative policies. His criticism was often expressed through veiled attacks on social media, critical columns and public addresses in his Pilibhit constituency.
BJP leaders recall that Gandhi openly expressed solidarity with farmers protesting against the three controversial farm laws.
After the deaths of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, 2021, Varun strongly condemned the incident and demanded action against BJP colleague and then Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra Teni.
The BJP subsequently removed Varun and his mother, Maneka Gandhi, from its National Executive Committee.
Varun also became increasingly vocal on issues including unemployment, the Agnipath scheme and contractual employment.
He was subsequently denied a ticket to contest from Pilibhit, a constituency he had won twice, in 2009 and 2019. The BJP instead fielded former Congress leader Jatin Prasada, who defeated his nearest rival, Samajwadi Party candidate Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, by more than 1.64 lakh votes.
Unconfirmed BJP sources, however, claim that the party's high command had offered Varun the opportunity to contest the high-profile Raebareli seat against Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Varun is said to have turned down the offer to avoid a direct electoral contest within the Gandhi family.