Rajya Sabha polls for 11 seats in UP, U’khand on Nov 9
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW Elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand will take place on November 9, and the results will be declared no later than November 11, the Election Commission of India said on Tuesday. Both states are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is poised to increase its strength in the upper house.
The polls will come close on the heels of the three-phase Bihar assembly polls, which will conclude on November 7, and bypolls to 59 assembly seats in 11 states. Results of the Bihar assembly elections and the bypolls will be declared on November 10.
The terms of 11 Rajya Sabha members of Parliament, including Union minister Hardeep Puri and senior Congress leaders PL Punia and Raj Babbar, are set to lapse on November 25. Other retiring members include Chandrapal Singh Yadav, Javed Ali Khan, Arun Singh, Neeraj Shekhar, Ravi Prakash Verma, Rajaram, Ramgopal Yadav and Veer Singh. Babbar represents Uttarakhand in the Rajya Sabha.
Arun Singh, Neeraj Shekhar and Puri belong to the BJP; Chandrapal Singh Yadav, Khan, Ravi Prakash Verma and Ram Gopal Yadav represent the Samajwadi Party (SP), and Rajaram and Veer Singh belong to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
With 304 members in th 403member Uttar Pradesh assembly, the BJP is in a position to win nine seats, the Apna Dal (S); an allay of the BJP has nine MLAs; the Samajwadi Party that has 48 members in the assembly is likely to send one member to the Rajya Sabha. The Bahujan Samaj Party with 18 MLAs and Congress with seven MLAs are not in a position to win seats.
Members of the Rajya Sabha are chosen by elected members of the legislative assemblies in line with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
“Why is the BJP in such a hurry,” said a Congress leader who did not wish to be named. “They are worried that the protests in UP will get to them. The Commission should at least have let the MPs complete their term.”
The leader was referring to farmers’ protests in parts of Uttar Pradesh against recently enacted farm laws that the central government says would enable farmers to sell their produce without any restrictions and would open up agricultural trade. Some farmers’ groups and opposition parties have alleged that the laws would promote corporate interests and leave farmers at the mercy of big agribusinesses.
Uttar Pradesh was also recently rocked by protests over the gang-rape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman from Hathras who died in hospital of injuries she suffered in the assault, and her forced cremation in the middle of the night under pressure from the police.
“I think they (the EC) are looking at what is more convenient, it is from the view of practicality {in conducting the elections},” said SP national spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari.
The Election Commission has asked chief secretaries to depute a senior official to ensure that all Covid-19 containment measures are followed during the elections, including the compulsory use of masks, sanitisers and social distancing. It has also directed that a violet colour sketch pen of prefixed specifications provided by the returning officer shall be used.
I think they (the EC) are looking at what is more convenient, it is from the view of practicality {in conducting the elections} CONGRESS LEADER