Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Elected Unopposed To Rajya Sabha From Madhya Pradesh

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, marking his shift from Uttar Pradesh as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reshapes its parliamentary representation in the politically crucial northern state ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Puri, 74, was declared elected on November 5 after the nomination papers of two other candidates, Kante Sayanna and Congress-backed Rajkumar Lohani, were rejected during scrutiny. With Puri emerging as the sole candidate, the November 12 by-election became unnecessary. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of former Union Minister L Murugan, whose term was due to end on April 2, 2030. BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal received Puri's election certificate from Returning Officer Umesh Sharma.

The BJP announced eight new candidates for Uttar Pradesh's 10 seats: Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar.

The selection reflected caste representation and organisational considerations, with three OBC, two Dalit, two Brahmin and one Thakur nominee. The party also dropped outgoing members, including Union Minister of State B L Verma, Arun Singh, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, Geeta Shakya and Seema Dwivedi.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) nominated veteran leader Ram Gopal Yadav and Reliance Industries executive Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani. Although the party considered fielding a third candidate, president Akhilesh Yadav decided against risking a contest, prioritising the 2027 Assembly elections.

Consequently, all 10 candidates were declared elected unopposed on October 9, cancelling the October 16 polling. The outcome retained the BJP's eight seats, increased the SP's representation from one to two and ended the BSP's Rajya Sabha representation from Uttar Pradesh, as its outgoing member Ramji Gautam was not replaced.