New Delhi: The BJP has decided to field Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri as its candidate in a Rajya Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh, a party release said.

Puri, a former Indian Foreign Service Officer, was inducted as a minister in the Narendra Modi government in September.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation from the cabinet and Parliament of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who returned to Goa to take over as Chief Minister. 

The last date of nominations for the Rajya Sabha bypoll is January 5. 

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Udupi: Udupi City Police have registered a case of online fraud after a 62-year-old hotel chef was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.13 lakh by a woman who befriended him on WhatsApp, claiming to be based in London.
The victim, identified as Pandu Kariappa Poojary, a resident of Kuthpadi in Udupi, was working at a hotel in Mangaluru.

He reportedly came into contact with a woman identifying herself as Emilda William on WhatsApp. During their interactions, she told Poojary that she planned to start a cosmetics and hotel business in India and would meet him during a visit to Mangaluru.
On April 7, Emilda sent Poojary a flight ticket from London to Delhi via WhatsApp. The following day, Poojary received a phone call from a woman who informed him that Emilda had arrived at Delhi airport carrying a demand draft worth Rs 5 crore along with other items. The caller allegedly asked him to pay Rs 70,000.
Subsequently, Poojary also received a call from Emilda, who was reportedly crying and spoke about the situation. Believing the claims, he transferred a total of Rs 1,13,300 in phases using a scanner. He later realised that he had been cheated.