Dinesh Sharma was one of the two Deputy Chief Ministers in the first term of Yogi Adityanath
Former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma is poised to enter Rajya Sabha from the state as the BJP leader is the only candidate to file the nomination for the September 15 by-election.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of incumbent MP Hardwar Dubey, who was also from the BJP. The term of the seat is till November 2026.
"Except Sharma's, no other nomination was filed on the last day today. The scrutiny of papers will be done on Wednesday. The formal declaration of result will be on Friday," Assistant Returning Officer, Rajya Sabha poll Ajit Sharma told Press Trust of India.
Sharma filed his nomination in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya and senior party leaders in the Central Hall of the state assembly.
While speaking to news agency PTI, Mr Sharma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior party leaders for giving him the opportunity to become a member of the Upper House of Parliament.
"I will work for the BJP as a devoted party worker. I will also ensure that Narendra Modi ji becomes the prime minister for the third time," Mr Sharma, who is a member of the UP legislative council, said.
He asserted that the BJP will win all 80 Lok Sabha seats of the state in the 2024 polls.
Mr Sharma's election was all but certain due to the strong majority the BJP enjoys in the state assembly. Like Dubey, he is also from the Brahmin community.
Dinesh Sharma was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the first term of the Chief Minister Adityanath-led government between 2017 and 2022. He held portfolios of secondary education, higher education, science and technology and IT and electronics.
The 59-year-old leader has been a member of the BJP for long but emerged on the central stage of politics with his appointment as its National Vice President in August 2014 after the party's landslide victory in parliamentary polls.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)