On Sunday, BJP selected Dinesh Arya for the Uttarakhand Rajya Sabha seat and actress‑turned‑politician Koel Mallick for the West Bengal vacancy, positioning the party for the forthcoming October 16 poll.
Mallick, who left the Trinamool Congress in July after resigning her Rajya Sabha berth, now stands as BJP's candidate, a move that forces a by‑election to fill the vacancy left by her departure.
The Election Commission announced on September 22 that 11 regular Rajya Sabha seats and the West Bengal by‑election would be contested on Oct. 16, with nomination filings due by Oct. 6 and scrutiny on Oct. 7.
In addition to the Uttarakhand seat, ten Uttar Pradesh members—Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Brij Lal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji Gautam, B.L. Verma, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma, and Hardeep Singh Puri—will see their terms expire, adding to the election's significance.
Local voices echo the stakes: a teacher from West Bengal's Malda district says she hopes Mallick will prioritize rural education, while a resident of Uttarakhand's Almora district envisions better infrastructure under Arya.
Votes will be tallied at 5 p.m. on Oct. 16, and the results will be announced that evening, after which the elected members will take oath before the Lok Sabha.