LUCKNOW Turning the final day of Rajya Sabha nominations into a massive display of organisational strength, eight Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates filed their papers at the Vidhan Bhawan on Tuesday. With the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) opting to field only two candidates, all 10 Upper House seats from Uttar Pradesh are now poised to be filled without a contest.
The SP has conceded defeat for 2027 polls. With the 2027 assembly polls approaching, the SP ultimately chose not to risk a direct numbers battle in the Upper House. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary accompanied the nominees to the assembly. Outside the BJP headquarters, a heavy convergence of supporters, SUVs and party workers playing traditional ‘dhols’ choked traffic along the Vidhan Sabha Marg for hours, setting an aggressive political tone ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. The SP had been considering fielding a third candidate and had completed preparations for the move. Speaking to different sections of media, BJP Rajya Sabha candidates expressed gratitude to the leadership for picking them and resolved to work hard to strengthen the party. The BJP office area, including the main Vidhan Sabha Marg road, was virtually choked with party supporters with SUVs turning the nomination exercise into a show of organisational strength ahead of the Assembly polls. That made cross-voting central to the calculations. the open-ballot system meant that such a move would be visible to party representatives While the possibility of NDA legislators supporting an SP candidate could not be ruled out.
In a post on X on Tuesday, SP president Akhilesh Yadav stated: “Now our eyes are not on three but on 403 seats,” signalling the party’s focus on the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said: “The writing on the wall is clear. However, the party decided against it on Tuesday morning after assessing the numbers and the possibility of cross-voting.
