RS polls: 8 BJP candidates file nomination in UP; Varanasi lawyer springs surprise by filing papers at last minute

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) eight candidates filed their nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha (RS) polls from Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Tuesday.

However, the excitement across the celebration fielding a ninth candidate on the final minute turned out to be a moist squib.

The dramatic last-minute submitting of nomination papers of a lawyer from Varanasi – solely 10 minutes earlier than the method drew to a detailed – has arrange the competition for the 10th RS seat from UP.

The elections are slated to be held on November 9 amid the coronavirus illness (Covid-19) pandemic and the outcomes will probably be declared on the identical day.

Also learn | RS polls set to push up BJP tally in House

Lawyer Prakash Bajaj filed his nomination papers at 2.50 pm on Tuesday and his candidature was supported by 10 lawmakers from the Samajwadi Party (SP).

The transfer implies that there will probably be a contest for the 10th vacant RS seat from UP. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Ramji Gautam, the celebration’s nationwide coordinator and Bihar in-charge, is the opposite contender for the 10th RS seat.

“Now, unless a candidate pulls out by November 3, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, or is disqualified, 11 aspirants will fight for 10 (RS) seats,” mentioned Pradeep Dubey, principal secretary, UP Vidhan Sabha.

Each candidate would require round 37 votes for an outright win.

The BJP and the SP have 304 and 48 members within the UP legislative meeting (MLAs), respectively, and may make sure the victory of their candidates on their very own power.

Gautam will contest in opposition to Bajaj, who’s combating as an unbiased candidate and enjoys the help of a minimum of 10 SP lawmakers.

“Bajaj has exposed the tacit understanding between the BJP and the BSP,” mentioned IP Singh, who belongs to the SP.

Gautam is prone to discover the going robust, because the BSP has solely 18 lawmakers within the 403-member UP meeting. At current, the meeting’s power is 395.

The BJP, which didn’t discipline a ninth candidate regardless of a couple of surplus votes and was purportedly assured the help of some opposition lawmakers, had bolstered Gautam’s probabilities.

However, the electoral arithmetic was drastically altered due to Bajaj’s entry on Tuesday.

“The move suits the BJP. It can always market its decision to not field a candidate against BSP’s Dalit candidate, while targeting the SP as an anti-Dalit party. The new political formations make it abundantly clear that in the 2022 UP assembly polls, the SP and BSP will contest against each other unlike in 2017. The BJP will relish the prospect, as it seeks to reap benefits owing to a lack of opposition unity,” mentioned Irshad Ilmi, a veteran journalist.

Just a few SP and BSP MLAs are additionally in cahoots with the BJP comparable to Nitin Agarwal and Ramvir Upadhaya, who belong to SP and the BSP, respectively.

Ramvir’s son Chiragvir and Nitin Agarwal’s father Naresh Agarwal have additionally switched to the BJP.

BSP MLA Anil Singh has additionally rebelled in opposition to his celebration. Another BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari has been languishing in a Punjab jail for the previous 22 months over a number of felony costs.

The Congress, too, has a few lawmakers, who’ve defied the celebration line previously.

Political observers really feel that BJP holds the sting in peddling affect over the result of the 10th RS seat from UP.

Apna Dal (Sonelal), which has 9 lawmakers, adopted by the Congress (7), Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) (4), Independents (3), Rashtriya Lok Dal (1) and Nishad Party (1) make up the representations of the opposite events within the UP meeting.

Earlier on Tuesday, the eight BJP candidates, together with three sitting RS members from UP comparable to Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, former Ballia Member of Parliament (MP) Neeraj Shekhar, the son of late Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, and celebration’s normal secretary Arun Singh, whose time period had expired on November 25, filed their nomination papers within the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma amongst others.

UP minister Haridwar Dubey, three-time MLA Seema Dwivedi, each Brahmins, and former director-general of police (DGP) Brij Lal, a Dalit, are the brand new BJP nominees for the vacant RS seats from the state.

Two different backward caste (OBC) candidates such because the celebration’s former Auraiya district chief Geeta Shakya and BL Verma have additionally been nominated to the Upper House of Parliament.

Verma is the UP BJP vice-president and in addition the chairman of UP State Construction and Infrastructure Development Corporation (UPSCIDC) Limited.