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UP legislative council polls: SP-RLD name candidates for 36 seats | Full list
Akhilesh Yadav-led party has declared its candidates on the 34 seats, barring Meerut-Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr ones, which have been left for ally RLD.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list for the legislative council elections, naming 30 candidates for the 36 vacant seats, the Samajwadi Party on Sunday declared its candidates for the biennial scheduled for April 9.
Akhilesh Yadav-led party has declared its candidates on the 34 seats, barring Meerut-Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr ones, which have been left for ally Rashtriya Lok Dal, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said.
Among those given tickets included Dr Kafeel Khan from Deoria, Mashkoor Ahmad from Rampur-Bareilly, sitting MLCs Sunil Kumar Sajan, Rajesh Kumar, and Udayveer Singh from Lucknow-Unnao, Barabaki, and Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri seats respectively.
The last date for filing nominations is March 21. The counting will be held on April 12.
The voters in this election are village pradhans, members and chairpersons of block development councils and zila panchayats, besides corporators of civic bodies.
Also Read | UP legislative council elections: All you need to know about April 9 polls
The BJP has included four former Samajwadi Party leaders, who had joined the BJP before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, in its 30-strong list of candidates. The BJP is expected to release its second list of candidates later.
The polls for the 36 seats belonging to local authorities constituencies within the state’s Upper House was earlier scheduled to be held on two different dates but the polls for all of them would now be held together on April 9.
Some of the prominent BJP candidates who figured in the party’s list on Saturday are former Congress MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh from Rae Bareli local authorities, former BSP leader Ramchandra Pradhan from Lucknow-Unnao local authorities and UP BJP general secretary Anoop Gupta from Khiri local authorities electoral college.
Current composition in Vidhan Parishad
For the ruling BJP, which came back to power with a two-third majority in the just-concluded assembly elections, it will be an opportunity to make itself the single-largest party in the House and enjoy a majority in both Houses of the UP Legislature.
According to the UP Vidhan Sabha official website, the BJP has 35 MLCs, SP 17 and the BSP four MLCs at present in the 100-member UP legislative council.
The Congress, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party have one member each in it.
The Teachers' group has two MLCs while the "Independent Group" ('Nirdal Samooh') and independents have one MLC each.
UP Vidhan Sabha’s 36 seats fell vacant on March 7 after the expiry of terms of its members while the 37th seat fell vacant following the death of the Leader of Opposition Ahmad Hassan, belonging to the Samajwadi Party, after a prolonged illness.
(With inputs from agencies)
