Summary:
Lucknow: In a surprising move, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced only eight candidates for the November 9 Rajya Sabha (RS) polls from Uttar Pradesh.
The decision went against the popular perception that the party would make a bid for a ninth seat also as it did in 2018.
The biennial elections will be held for a total of 10 seats from the state.
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Lucknow: In a surprising move, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced only eight candidates for the November 9 Rajya Sabha (RS) polls from Uttar Pradesh.
The decision went against the popular perception that the party would make a bid for a ninth seat also as it did in 2018.
The biennial elections will be held for a total of 10 seats from the state.
Two years ago, despite not having the numbers, the party had succeeded in ensuring the win of its ninth Rajya Sabha candidate and stopped the Bahujan Samaj Party nominee from winning.
This time, unless the BJP springs a last-minute surprise by fielding a ninth candidate, its decision would help the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has fielded a candidate despite not having enough numbers on its own to ensure its victory, political experts said.Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha election.
The BJP retained its three sitting Rajya Sabha members from UP – Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, former Ballia MP Neeraj Shekhar, son of late Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and party general secretary Arun Singh – whose term would expire on November 25.
Among others, the BJP settled for former UP minister Haridwar Dubey, three-time MLA Seema Dwivedi, both Brahmins and former director general of police Brij Lal, a Dalit.
The line-up includes two OBCs — former Auraiya district chief of BJP Geeta Shakya as well as BL Verma, the current UP BJP vice president and chairman of state construction and infrastructure development corporation limited.
For an outright win, each candidate requires 36 votes.