BJP puts up eighth candidate for Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh

BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh

An eighth Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party (SP) on February 27. Sanjay Seth, an industrialist and former SP leader, filed nomination papers at the State Assembly complex, in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, State BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary and other senior leaders.

With Mr. Seth’s nomination, 11 candidates are in the fray for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats becoming vacant in the State. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on February 16 from 11 a.m. onwards.

Earlier, seven BJP candidates — Sudhanshu Trivedi, former Union Minister R.P.N. Singh, former Agra Mayor Navin Jain, former State Minister Sangeeta Balwant, former MLA Sadhna Singh, Amarpal Maurya and Chaudhary Tejveer Singh — filed their nominations on Wednesday. “We will emerge victorious,” said Mr. Chaudhary, after Mr. Seth joined the list of candidates on Thursday.

With the ruling party fielding its eighth candidate, a high-pitched contest is on the cards for one of the seats. In the 403-member Assembly, with four seats remaining vacant, each candidate needs the votes of 37 MLAs to emerge victorious. On its own, the BJP has 252 members; while its partners Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 members, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Apna Dal (NISHAD) has six, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has nine and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) led by Om Prakash Rajbhar has six; the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has two MLAs and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has one.

The BJP needs 296 votes to get all its eight members elected. The SP, on its own, has 108 MLAs, while its partner the Congress has two MLAs. The SP will need the votes of 111 MLAs to win three Rajya Sabha seats and hence, will need an additional vote. “If the SP gets 111 votes, it will get all the three seats. But, if it fails to get even a single vote, then we may see second preference votes coming into play like the 2022 Haryana Rajya Sabha polls, where despite getting fewer first preference votes, the BJP-backed independent candidate emerged victorious,” said Asad Rizvi, a political analyst based in Lucknow.

In an election where each MLA’s vote is likely to play a key role, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader Pallavi Patel — elected on the SP ticket in the 2022 Assembly polls — expressed her displeasure in the party putting up Jaya Bachchan and Alok Ranjan as candidates, making it clear that she will not vote.