Amidst reports of disquiet among the allies of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav is working on a strategy to further consolidate the alliance.
The SP is likely to nominate the Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary for the Rajya Sabha. SP and its allies RLD (8) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (6) have a total strength of 125 MLAs and they will be able to elect three candidates easily to the Rajya Sabha. As many as 11 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh are retiring in July next.
The 11 Rajya Sabha MPs retiring from UP include five of the Bharatiya Janata Party, three of the Samajwadi Party, two of Bahujan Samaj Party and one member of the Congress. UP sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha. Of this, at present, 22 MPs are from BJP, five from SP, three from BSP and one from the Congress.
Given the strength of 403 elected members in the UP assembly, each RS candidate will be requiring at least 37 votes. With 273 MLAs, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will easily be able to elect seven members. As per the strength of 403 elected members in the 18th UP assembly, each RS candidate will be requiring at least 37 votes.
The contest, therefore, will boil down to the 11th seat for which both SP and BJP would seek support of other parties, including Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya's Jansatta Dal Loktantrik and Congress which have two MLAs each and Mayawati's BSP which has just one MLA.
The five retiring BJP Rajya Sabha members include party's Muslim MP from UP, Zafar Islam, former Union minister of state and leader from Gorakhpur Shiv Pratap Shukla, who was tasked with consolidating Brahmins in UP polls. Sanjay Seth, the turncoat from the Samajwadi Party, Surendra Nagar, and Jai Prakash Nishad, who was a minister of state in Mayawati government between 2008 and 2009 and Kapil Sibbal of the Congress.
Those completing their term in the SP include former UP Legislative Council Chairman Sukhram Singh Yadav, whose son Mohit recently joined the BJP. Former Lok Sabha MP and UP cabinet minister Reoti Rama Singh too will be retiring. The third SP MP to complete his tenure is former Lok Sabha MP from Fatehpur, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad. While BJP might look up to Raja Bhaiya’s party for support, SP is expected to bank on Congress.
With just two MLAs, the Congress is in no position to field a candidate. The political stand of the BSP’s lone MLA will be under close scrutiny.