BJP picks Union Minister Hardeep Puri for Rajya Sabha bypoll from Madhya Pradesh

The BJP on Wednesday announced the name of Union Minister Hardeep Puri as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, ending days of suspense over the minister’s future. Puri was not renominated from Uttar Pradesh earlier this month, with the BJP fielding eight new faces in the state ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.

The announcement comes as preparations are underway for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh, which fell vacant following the resignation of former Union Minister L Murugan.

The BJP central election committee has approved Puri’s name for the bypoll, the party said in a statement.

Hardeep Puri, the only Sikh minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet, was earlier elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. His current Rajya Sabha term ends in November.

Earlier, when the BJP announced names of eight candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in UP, there was no mention of Puri’s name.

All 10 Rajya Sabha candidates from Uttar Pradesh—eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party and two from the Samajwadi Party—were declared elected unopposed earlier this month.

The party has sent Puri, 74, the Union minister of petroleum and natural gas, to the Rajya Sabha twice.

The last date for filing nominations is November 2, with scrutiny scheduled for November 3. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures has been fixed as November 5.

Voting will take place on November 12, followed by the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm.

Former Union minister of state L Murugan had resigned from both the Union Council of Ministers and the Rajya Sabha, even though his term as a member of the Upper House was to end in 2030. In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Murugan said he wanted to focus on politics in Tamil Nadu.