The stage is all set for the biennial polls for 11 Rajya Sabha seats and 13 legislative Council seats in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 12 candidates are in the fray for Rajya Sabha and 14 candidates for UP legislative Council.
Tuesday was the last day for filing of nomination papers for both. Shiv Pratap Shukla of the BJP and BJP-supported Independent candidates Preity Mahapatra filed their papers on Tuesday for Rajya Sabha.
For the Council polls, two BJP candidates - Bhupendra Chaubey and Daya Shanker Singh also filed their papers.
If the 12th candidate for Rajya Sabha and 14th candidate for legislative Council remain in the fray, then polling will be held for legislative Council on June 10 and that for Rajya Sabha on June 11.
Wife of Gujarat-based industrialist and diamond merchant, Preity Mahapatra filed her papers as an Independent for Rajya Sabha polls, thus forcing a poll.
NCP legislator Fateh Bahadur, BSP legislator Bala Prasad Awasthi, Rampal Yadav and Apna Dal MlA R K Verma were among the proposers along with BJP legislators during filing papers of Preity Mahapatra.
Peace Party chief Dr Ayub, who came to support Mahapatra suddenly had second thoughts refusing to be identified with the BJP. She later submitted a second set of papers after withdrawing the first.
Rebel SP legislator from Sitapur Rampal Yadav however told reporters that Independent MlAs were supporting Preity Mahapatra as an Independent candidate for RS. "It is my desire that the SP candidate loses the poll," said Yadav.
Mahapatra accompanied by her industrialist Harihar Mahapatra said after filing her papers said that she wanted to work in UP as her NGO was working all over the country.
State BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the party has decided to channel the spare votes to the Independent candidate.