BJP’s Dinesh Arya elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate Dinesh Arya was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand, officials said on Friday.

The term of incumbent Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal is scheduled to end on November 25.

Secretary of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Hem Pant said no other candidate had filed nomination papers for the seat. “We did not receive any nomination apart from that of the BJP’s Dinesh Arya. He was handed over the certificate of election at 3 pm today,” Pant said.

Arya currently serves as vice-chairperson of the State Drinking Water Monitoring Committee and has previously served as the BJP’s Nainital district president.

A Dalit leader from Kumaon, his election to the Rajya Sabha is being seen as the BJP’s outreach to the Dalit community ahead of the assembly elections, scheduled for February next year.

Arya filed his nomination papers on October 6.

BJP’s Uttarakhand core committee had considered around two dozen names for the Rajya Sabha nomination at a meeting on September 25. A smaller panel was subsequently finalised by CM Pushkar Dhami, state chief Mahendra Bhatt and state BJP general secretary (organisation) Phanindra Nath Sharma and sent to the party’s central leadership for a final decision.

Congress had decided against contesting the election, citing a lack of numbers in the state assembly. “We have 20 MLAs and are short of the required numbers. We cannot ensure the victory of our candidate, which is why we did not contest,” said state Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana.