The principal Opposition party in Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party tried to force elections by fielding candidates for two seats in Pradesh Legislative Council bypolls on Thursday, the last date for filing of nomination. The party though does not have the numbers to win any of the two seats; it still opted to fight the elections to be held on May 29.
On Thursday morning, after BJP candidates Manvendra Singh and Padamsen filed their nominations for the by- elections in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath , his two deputies and others. Thereafter, SP candidates, former MLC Ramjatan Rajbhar and Ramkaran Nirmal, filed their papers, but in the absence of party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Elections to both the seats would be held on May 29 if the papers of the SP and BJP candidates were found in order during their scrutiny tomorrow or they withdraw by May 22.
The two seats fell vacant by the resignation of BJP Legislative Council member Laxman Acharya and death of Banwari Lal Dohra.
The term of the seat vacated by Laxman Acharya will be up to January,2027 and of Banwari Lal Dohra till July, 2028.
All the 403 MLAs will vote separately for both the seats, as the notification for both the seats has been done separately.
The BJP and its alliance have 274 members in the assembly, while the SP alliance has 118 members. Whereas, SBSP has six members, BSP one, Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two members each.
It will also be interesting to see what stand SBSP, BSP and Congress take in this election. SBSP was the ally of SP in 2022 assembly polls but now have parted ways.