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Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council poll on March 21, another NDA vs INDIA bloc contest in the offing
Among the 13 lawmakers, whose term is expiring on May 5, there are 10 BJP MLCs, one each from the Samajwadi Party, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Uttar Pradesh assembly members will elect the 13 MLCs.
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the Samajwadi Party-led INDIA bloc are set for a faceoff in the February 27 Rajya Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh, another electoral contest between the two sides is in the offing ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The way for the latest round has been paved with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announcing the schedule for the election to 13 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
The development has sparked intense lobbying in the NDA and INDIA camps for upper house berths. The Council election is to be held on March 21, if voting is required.
Among the 13 lawmakers, whose term is expiring on May 5, there are 10 BJP MLCs, one each from the Samajwadi Party, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Uttar Pradesh assembly members will elect the 13 MLCs.
A candidate will require 30 first-preference votes to win a seat in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. The NDA has 286 MLAs (BJP 252 , Apna Dal (S) 13, NISHAD party 6, RLD 9 and SBSP 6). It is in a position to send nine candidates to the Legislative Council. The NDA will be left with 16 extra votes that is not enough to elect the 10th candidate.
The INDIA bloc includes 108 SP MLAs and two Congress MLAs, taking the total strength to 110. It can send three candidates to the upper house. The INDIA bloc will have 20 extra votes, but it will be short of another 10 votes to ensure the victory of the fourth candidate.
Even after combining two votes of the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik and a single BSP vote, both the NDA and INDIA bloc will need extra votes, giving rise to the possibility of cross-voting.
The BJP MLCs who are retiring include Mahendra Kumar Singh, Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Mohsin Raza, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Sarojini Agarwal, Yashwant Singh, Ashok Kataria, Ashok Dhawan, Bukkal Nawab and Nirmala Paswan.
Mahendra Kumar Singh, Vijay Bahadur Singh, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Ashok Kataria and Ashok Dhawan are likely to be fielded again by the party due to their position in the organisation and the responsibilities given by the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Mohsin Raza, who was a minister in the Yogi government’s first term, is also in the race for an upper house berth.
Apna Dal-S MLC Ashish Patel, the state’s technical education minister, will be repeated. The BJP may replay the Rajya Sabha experiment by giving tickets to new candidates.
“To send a message, the party rewards the hardworking and loyal leaders by sending them to Rajya Sabha or the Legislative Council. Some of the leaders, who are working diligently, may be picked for the Legislative Council,” a BJP leader said.
Samajwadi Party MLC Naresh Uttam Patel, who is the party’s state president and an OBC leader, is most likely to be repeated. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who faced criticism for deviating from the PDA formula in the selection of Rajya Sabha candidates may give the party ticket to Muslim and Dalit leaders to check resentment among the party leaders and allies.
The election will also mark the end of BSP representation in the Legislative Council with the retirement of lone party MLC Bhim Rao Ambedkar. The Congress has no representation in the Council as well.
In a press statement, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa said the term of 13 members of the Uttar Pradesh legislative Council, elected by the members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, is ending on May 5. The Election Commission of India has announced schedule for the Legislative Council Biennial Elections in 2024.
The notification for filing of nomination of candidates will be issued on March 4. The last date for nomination is March 11. Scrutiny will be done on March 12. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 14. Voting will be held on March 21 from 9 am to 4 pm. The counting of votes will take place from 5pm the same day. The election process will be completed before March 23, he said.
