New Delhi, Jun 8 (IANS): BJP on Wednesday announced 16 candidates for the biennial election to the Legislative Council from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has fielded Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and other ministers of Yogi Adityanath government.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, in a statement, said: "The BJP Central election Committee has approved the following names for the biennial election to the Legislative Council from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar."

The BJP has fielded nine candidates for Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh which includes seven ministers -- Maurya, Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, J.P.S. Rathore, Narendra Kashyap, Dayashankar Mishra Dayalu, Jaswant Saini and Danish Azad Ansari. The list also includes names of Mukesh Sharma and Banvarilal Dohre.

Besides, Pravin Yashwant Darekar, Ram Shankar Shinde, Shrikant Bharatiya, Uma Girish Khapre and Prasad Minesh Lad have been picked up for Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Hari Sahni and Anil Sharma are two BJP candidates for Bihar Legislative Council.