Hardeep Singh Puri Dropped From BJP’s UP Rajya Sabha List: Cabinet Reshuffle Buzz Grows
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri discussing Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024. Rajya Sabha passed it during the Winter session. !
By NIRENDRA DEV
BJP’s eight Uttar Pradesh nominees include three OBC, two Scheduled Caste and three general-category candidates, while the omission of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri adds to speculation over a Cabinet reshuffle.
New Delhi, October 5, 2026 — The BJP’s latest Rajya Sabha candidates list from Uttar Pradesh has put the spotlight on Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, whose name does not figure among the party’s nominees, in a move being seen as significant ahead of a much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle.
Key BJP leaders including Arun Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri and B L Verma have been dropped from the list. Arun Singh, Seema Dwivedi, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal and Geeta Shakya also do not figure among the nominees.
The move is being seen as a surprise and indicative of the possibility that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could go ahead with his plans for a Cabinet reshuffle sooner than later.
The BJP’s eight nominees reflect a combination of caste and sub-regional representation in Uttar Pradesh. The list includes three OBC candidates, two Scheduled Caste candidates and three from the general category. Two of the eight nominees are women.
There is also a sub-regional balance. Priyanka Singh Rawat brings an Awadh connection, while Prakash Pal represents the Kanpur-Bundelkhand belt. Dharampal Singh and Shruti Gangwar provide representation from Rohilkhand. Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan hails from western Uttar Pradesh and is an organisational face, while Vidyasagar Sonkar and Radhakant Ojha are associated with Purvanchal areas.
Among the upper-caste nominees are two Brahmins and one Thakur leader. Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan is a BJP state general secretary and the party’s Western Uttar Pradesh region in-charge. He represented Etmadpur in Agra as an MLA from 2017 to 2022.
Radhakant Ojha is a senior advocate at the Allahabad High Court in Prayagraj and has been elected president of its Bar Association twice. Gopi Krishna Pandey is a senior BJP organiser involved in grassroots campaigns and organisational work.
The three OBC nominees represent the Lodhi, Pal and Kurmi communities, reflecting the BJP’s effort to balance caste representation and organisational experience ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.
Among them, Prakash Pal heads the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh OBC Morcha and has previously led its Kanpur-Bundelkhand organisational region.
Vidyasagar Sonkar is the Dalit nominee. A leader from Jaunpur and former MP and MLC, he has served as deputy leader in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and as a BJP state general secretary.
The two women nominated are former Barabanki MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar, daughter of Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar.
Priyanka Singh Rawat, a Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president and national executive member, defeated Congress veteran P L Punia by around two lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Shruti Gangwar, an IIT graduate, chairs the Urban Co-operative Bank in Bareilly and is active in the Bareilly-Baheri region. She described her nomination as an important step towards women-led development and greater participation of women in policymaking.
The list has also triggered speculation that a few Governors could be changed or dropped in the weeks to come.
The Election Commission has fixed October 6 as the last date for filing nominations, with polling scheduled for October 16.
The BJP is comfortably positioned to win eight seats, while the Samajwadi Party is expected to secure two. Both parties could see their candidates elected unopposed if no additional nominees enter the contest.
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
