Ex-MP Sanjay Seth to file nomination as BJP's 8th Rajya Sabha candidate from UP

Sanjay Seth served as an MP of the BJP in Lok Sabha in May 2019

Seven candidates of the BJP have already filed their nominations for the RS polls slated to be held on February 27.

Now, the ruling BJP's move to bring an eighth candidate into the fray has put the opposition, Samajwadi Party (SP) in a tight spot.

State BJP President Bhupinder Chaudhry said " Today Sanjay Seth has been nominated as our 8th Rajya Sabha candidate, I congratulate him. Today the country is rapidly making progress under the direction of PM Narendra Modi. We have the majority in the assembly so I am confident that we will get the required numbers"

With regard to the number of MLAs of the ruling BJP-led NDA, the candidates nominated by the BJP have a high chance of getting elected.

Bhupinder Chaudhry said: "Today the entire nation is celebrating the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya and everyone is influenced by the BJP. We believe that with the numbers on our side all 8 of our Rajya Sabha candidates will win"

BJP has already nominated RPN Singh, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Sadhna Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Sangita Balwant and Navin Jain from Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier this week, the Samajwadi Party nominated actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan, Ramji Lal Suman and Alok Ranjan as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Jaya Bachchan and the two other candidates of the SP filed their nomination in the presence of Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, along with the proposers of all the candidates. Senior leaders of the party including Shivpal Singh Yadav were present during the nomination process.

The biennial Rajya Sabha polls for 56 seats across 15 states will be held on February 27 and the last date for filing nominations is today.

Results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27.

In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 252 members, its alliance partners namely Apna Dal (sone Lal) have 13, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party has 6 and the recently made ally, Rashtriya Lok Dal has 9 members.

While the opposition, Samajwadi Party has 108 members and its INDIA bloc ally Congress has 2 MLAs.

Others include Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal with six members, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik with two members and Bahujan Samaj Party has one member.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of vacancies in the Rajya Sabha of 10 seats, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (six each), Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal (five each), Karnataka and Gujarat (four each), Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan (three each), and Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh (one each). (ANI)