{"id":32922,"date":"2026-10-05T21:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=32922"},"modified":"2026-10-05T21:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:30:17","slug":"rajya-sabha-polls-rajya-sabha-polls-8-fresh-bjp-faces-for-up-hardeep-puri-among-2-ministers-dropped-india-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=32922","title":{"rendered":"Rajya Sabha Polls: Rajya Sabha polls: 8 fresh BJP faces for UP, Hardeep Puri among 2 ministers dropped | India News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134716847,imgsize-135848,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/up-rs-polls.jpg\" alt=\"Rajya Sabha polls: 8 fresh BJP faces for UP, Hardeep Puri among 2 ministers dropped\" title=\"Bengali film actor Koel Mallick with Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after filing her nomination for the RS election in Kolkata\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Bengali film actor Koel Mallick with Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after filing her nomination for the RS election in Kolkata\">Bengali film actor Koel Mallick with Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after filing her nomination for the RS election in Kolkata<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday did not renominate two Union ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri and B L Verma, as its Rajya Sabha picks from Uttar Pradesh, rekindling speculation that PM Narendra Modi is looking to reshuffle his council of ministers as vacancies rise.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Two other ministers, Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurien, were similarly left out of Rajya Sabha nominations in June, leading to their resignation. While these two were state ministers, a position held by Verma as well, Puri is a Cabinet minister holding the crucial portfolio of petroleum and natural gas.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>His likely exit from the Cabinet after the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan quit in July following CJP&#8217;s stir over paper leaks further makes the case of a reshuffle as both are demanding portfolios. <!-- -->Consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Pralhad Joshi is currently handling the education ministry as an additional charge.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>A minister since Sep 2017, former diplomat Puri is the lone Sikh face in the council of ministers and had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar in 2019.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"  \">\n<div class=\"LEzX4\">\n<div class=\"PmOGb\">\n<p class=\"PSf84\">Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Insightful<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Agree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Disagree<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Skeptical<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Concerning<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Promising<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Worth Reading<\/button><button type=\"button\" class=\"sUTYm \">Big Development<\/button><\/p>\n<p><textarea class=\"T9MbS\" rows=\"1\" placeholder=\"Add your Thoughts...\"\/><button type=\"button\" class=\"ZW6JD \" disabled=\"\">Post Comment<\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"swnca\">Be respectful \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatimes.com\/termsandcondition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"gkv0P\">TOI community guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Whether BJP deploys Puri for Punjab polls remains to be seen<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>Some Union ministers like Pankaj Chaudhary and Harsh Malhotra, now heading BJP\u2019s state units in UP and Delhi respectively, have been given organisation responsibilities in an indication that their continuation in govt is unlikely to continue beyond the expected reshuffle.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Puri\u2019s term as Rajya Sabha MP from UP ends in Nov, and rules allow a minister to hold his office for six months without being an MP. Not having much of a political constituency of his own, it remains to be seen if he, like Bittu, will be deployed in the Punjab assembly polls, scheduled to be held along with four other states, including UP, early next year.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>While the impending Punjab election was cited by some experts as a case for his continuation due to his Sikh background, BJP brass in the end chose to not repeat any of its RS candidates, a practice it had followed in the last round of elections as well.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Since taking over as PM in 2014, Modi has gone for an overhaul of his council of ministers before the mid-term in both his earlier stints, giving rise to the prospect of a major rejig as his govt is now well into its third year in its third stint.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/rajya-sabha-polls-8-fresh-bjp-faces-for-up-hardeep-puri-among-2-ministers-dropped\/articleshow\/134716837.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bengali film actor Koel Mallick with Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after filing her nomination for the RS election in Kolkata NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday did not renominate two Union ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri and B L Verma, as its Rajya Sabha picks from Uttar Pradesh, rekindling speculation that PM Narendra Modi is looking to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/up-rs-polls.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Bengali film actor Koel Mallick with Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari after filing her nomination for the RS election in Kolkata NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday did not renominate two Union ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri and B L Verma, as its Rajya Sabha picks from Uttar Pradesh, rekindling speculation that PM Narendra Modi is looking to [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 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