Former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Dinesh Sharma is Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP's) candidate for the by-election of lone Rajya Seat from state, national general secretary of BJP, Arun Singh announced on Sunday. The seat fell vacant after the death of Hardwar Dubey in June.
Polling for this seat will take place on September 12 and counting will be done on the same day. However, as per the indications from the opposition parties, Sharma is likely to get elected unopposed. Meanwhile, there would be another by-election for a seat in UP legislative council that is to be vacated by Sharma. He is currently a member of legislative council with tenure upto January 2027.
Sharma became deputy chief minister in the previous Yogi government but dropped this time. He has held several positions in the national executive of BJP including vice-president and in charge of states like Gujarat and Asaam. He had started his career with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and was made state vice-president of BJP youth wing in 1991. He was state president of BJP youth wing from 1993 to 1998. In the years 2006 and 2012 Sharma was elected Mayor of Lucknow Municipal Corporation twice. He was made leader of the house in the legislative council in 2017.
