Voting for the elections to fill the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh commenced at around 9 am on Tuesday, as confirmed by officials. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put forward eight candidates, while the Samajwadi Party has nominated three candidates for the election.
While the ruling BJP and the primary opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) have sufficient numbers to secure seven and three seats respectively in the Rajya Sabha unopposed, the BJP's decision to nominate an eighth candidate has set the stage for a competitive contest for one of the seats.
The results will be announced by the end of the day, Returning Officer Brijbhushan Dubey said earlier. The BJP and the SP are the two largest parties in the 403-member state assembly with 252 MLAs and 108 MLAs respectively. The Congress, an alliance partner of the SP, has two seats. BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 seats, the NISHAD Party has six seats, RLD has nine seats, SBSP six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik two and the BSP has one seat. Four seats are currently vacant.
BJP has nominated seven additional candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections: former Union minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Amarpal Maurya (general secretary of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit), Sangeeta Balwant (Bind, former state minister), Sudhanshu Trivedi (party spokesperson), Sadhna Singh (former MLA), and Naveen Jain (former Agra mayor).
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has put forward the following candidates: actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan, and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman. To get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, a candidate needs nearly 37 first-preference votes. Polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm. Counting will commence from 5 pm and results are likely to be announced on Tuesday night, Dubey had earlier said.