India, Oct. 5 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced names of its candidates for Rajya Sabha polls, fielding Rukmini Mallick from West Bengal and Dinesh Arya from Uttarakhand. Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal will be held on October 16. The last date for filing nominations is October 6. The election from Uttarakhand was necessitated due to MP Naresh Bansal's term coming to an end on November 16. Meanwhile, Mallick will be contesting for the seat from the eastern state, which was left vacant after she resigned as a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP on July 16. With Mallick's exit, the Mamata-led TMC's strength in the Rajya Sabha came down to nine. In Uttarakhand, Arya serves as the vice-chairperson of the state drinking water monitoring committee. "I thank CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, for choosing an ordinary party worker like me for such a significant responsibility," Arya said. htc...