10 BJP candidates file papers for legislative council polls
In all, 13 candidates file nominations for biennial polls to 12 Vidhan Parishad seats
LUCKNOW: All 10 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, including ex-bureaucrat and PM Narendra Modi’s close aide Arvind Kumar Sharma, filed their nomination papers for the biennial polls to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) in the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath here on Monday even as surprise entry of a 13th candidate into the fray may make voting for 12 seats inevitable.
Sources, however, said the extra candidate was not able to fulfil certain mandatory formalities due to which his nomination was liable to be rejected during the scrutiny of papers on Tuesday. The biennial polls in which members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will cast their votes to elect members of Legislative Council (MLCs) are due to be held on January 28 and the election commission has said it will announce results the same day.
Apart from Sharma, other candidates who filed their papers after a rousing welcome at BJP state headquarters were state party chief Swatantra Dev Singh, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, Laxaman Prasad Acharya, Salil Bishnoi, Govind Shukla, Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Ashwini Tyagi, Dharamvir Prajapati and Surendra Chaudhary.
Earlier, all the candidates reached BJP office that was packed with excited workers ready to welcome them (candidates) to the beats of ‘dhols’. The candidates offered prayers at the temple situated within the party campus before proceeding together to the Vidhan Bhawan to file papers. The BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have fielded 10 and two candidates respectively for the biennia polls. All the 12 candidates are expected to be elected unopposed.
But now filing of nomination papers by Kanpur’s Mahesh Chandra Sharma as an independent candidate shortly after BJP candidates filed their papers on the last day of the nomination may change the scenario making voting compulsory provided number of candidates remain the same after the scrutiny of their papers. Sources said the 13th candidate’s nomination was likely to be rejected during the scrutiny. Candidates can withdraw their names by January 21.
“If the number of candidates remains 13 after the scrutiny, it will not only make voting compulsory but also lead to horsetrading,” sources said.
In the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), BJP has the highest 310 MLAs, SP 48, BSP 18 and the Congress has 7. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which has now tied up with the SP after breakup with the BJP, has four MLAs and the Apna Dal (Sonelal), the BJP’s ally, has nine members. In the biennial elections due on January 28, any political party will need votes of 32 MLAs to get one candidate elected to Vidhan Parishad.
The 12 members whose tenure in the Vidhan Parisahd is expiring on January 30 are Dinesh Sharma, Ahamad Hasan, Ashu Malik, Dharam Veer Singh Ashok, Nasimuddin Siddiqui , Pradeep Kumar Jatav, Ramesh Yadav, Ramjatan, Laxaman Prasad Acharya, Virendra Singh, Swatantra Dev Singh and Sahab Singh Saini. The seat of Naseemuddin Siddiqui fell vacant with effect from February 22, 2018 following the chairman’s order on July 21, 2020 because of his defecting from the BSP to the Congress.