Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Amid speculation over whether the Samajwadi Party will field a third candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday indicated that his focus is elsewhere. In a post on X, the former chief minister said, “Now, our focus is not on three, but on 403”.
The remark came even as the deadline for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha election fell on Tuesday. The SP has already fielded veteran leader Ram Gopal Yadav and Reliance Industries executive Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, while the BJP has announced eight candidates.
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Yadav had earlier said that his party would field a third candidate once the required numbers were secured. His latest statement shifted the focus to the 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, amid continued buzz over the possibility of an additional SP nominee entering the contest.
According to the election schedule, scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on October 7. Names can be withdrawn till October 9, and polling will take place on October 16. Ram Gopal Yadav and Nathwani have filed their nominations in Lucknow.
The BJP’s eight candidates are state minister Dharampal Singh, Shruti Gangwar, Prakash Pal, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Radhakant Ojha, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan. The party has said its list includes Dalits and Brahmins.
The Rajya Sabha polls are held through proportional representation and the single transferable vote system, under which surplus votes of winning candidates are transferred to the remaining candidates on the basis of second preferences. Party leaders on both sides said that if the contest has more than 10 candidates, the result would depend on technicalities and astute planning.
After the recent death of Fatehabad BJP MLA Chhotelal Verma, the BJP-led alliance has 288 MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly. This includes 255 BJP MLAs, 13 from Apna Dal (Sonelal), nine from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, six from the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and five from the NISHAD Party. The SP-Congress combine has 103 MLAs, including 101 from the SP. The Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has two MLAs, while there are three unattached legislators.
With nominations closing and the numbers under close watch, the focus remains on whether the Rajya Sabha contest in Uttar Pradesh stays straightforward or turns into a more closely managed battle.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
