Polling for the Legislative Council is slated for June 10.
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Rajya Sabha candidates in the fray are – Amar Singh, Beni Prasad Verma, Kuwar Rewati Raman Singh, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Sukhram Singh Yadav, Sanjay Seth and Surendra Nagar (all SP), Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Sidharth (both BSP), Kapil Sibal (Cong), Shiv Pratap Shukla (BJP) and Preeti Mahapatra (Ind). For, such an alliance is potent enough to carve for itself a formidable vote base, consisting of a majority of Dalits and Muslims as well as a section of upper castes, leaving the BJP and the SP to play an Other Backward Classes-centric politics in the state. The BJP needs 14 additional votes to ensure victory of its second candidate, Lehar Singh Siroya, a close associate of BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Rajendra Kumar Meshram has moved for modification of the May 5, 2015 order to exercise his franchise in biennial Rajya Sabha polls. A candidate requires support of 29 MLAs to register victory.
At least a few sitting MLAs and ministers of the SP are stated to be unhappy with the Yadav first family.
Tankha, a Supreme Court lawyer, is one vote short of victory. The development, by making a contest inevitable, was presented as Shah’s master stroke that would corner Congress candidates in two states. Sibal had left Lucknow after filing his nomination and he returned on June 8 with party general secretary in-charge of UP, Madhusudan Mistry and senior leader Raj Babbar and hosted dinner for party MLAs.
BSP had supported the Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh after their support to the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand recently.
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On if his candidature would be weakened if opposition parties, including Congress, do not lend support to him and INLD decides to back Mr Anand, Mr Chandra said, “Look, you think that way”. Mathur has also exuded confidence about victory of party’s candidates in Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad polls and said there were no possibilities of any cross voting by the party MLAs.
