Now, BJP-SP look to battle it out in council elections

Nominations for the council polls started on Tuesday and intense parleys were on in both BJP and SP to decide names of the candidates

LUCKNOW : After the recent, bitterly fought, Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which BJP dominated with 255 seats, the saffron party and the Samajwadi Party are set to resume their rivalry in the UP legislative council elections, wherein polling will be held for 36 seats, under 35 local bodies, on April 9.

The SP, despite having improved its vote share and seats, stood second to the BJP in the assembly polls by quite a distance

Nominations for the council polls started on Tuesday and intense parleys were on in both BJP and SP to decide names of candidates for these seats.

BJP is looking to reward turncoats from the legislative council who sided with them during the assembly elections.

While the BJP won 255 seats on its own, its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party won 18 seats. The SP won 111 seats on its own and its allies, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won 13 seats.

Till recently SP had a numerical edge over BJP in the legislative council that it lost after

March 7, when the tenure of 36 MLCs ended -- 31 of them were of SP. Moreover, eight MLCs from SP and one from Bahujan Samaj Party had crossed over to BJP during the UP assembly elections.

“This SP’s effective strength is down to 17 members against BJP’s 35. The legislative council polls are likely to increase this lead even further. I think by July, SP would be left with just a handful of MLCs,” a BJP leader said.

This leader said his party had finalised its candidates and their names would be announced soon.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is learnt to have discussed the names of candidates with the party’s core group, comprising the two deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, BJP state chief Swatantra Dev and general secretary (organization) Sunil Bansal.

The final announcement will be made from Delhi, party leaders said adding that those opposition leaders who had crossed over to BJP to support it in the assembly elections would be rewarded.

The BJP has yet not decided about naming any of the 10 ministers of the outgoing BJP government, who lost the elections, for these council seats. “The BJP would look to reward newer faces. As for naming ministers who lost the elections on these council seats, no decision has been taken,” a BJP leader said.

Meetings were being held in the Samajwadi Party, too, to finalise candidates. “We will announce the names shortly,” a Samajwadi Party leader said.

“The role of gram pradhans (village heads) in these elections is important. Since the BJP has done very well in rural pockets, too, in the UP assembly polls, it won’t be any surprise if the party bags a majority of these 36 seats,” said AP Tiwari, a political analyst. The MLC polls, which were to be held on March 3 and March 7 earlier, had to be rescheduled on the request of political parties who had argued in favour of holding them after the assembly elections. Now, polling will be held simultaneously on April 9 for all the 36 seats and results would be announced on April 12.

Since the BJP has done very well in rural pockets, too, in the UP assembly polls, it won’t be any surprise if the party bags a majority of these 36 seats AP TIWARI,

a political analyst