Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is set to join the Union Cabinet on Sunday, is expected to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in the biennial elections to be held on November 20. A senior leader of the party confirmed that Parrikar would be the BJP’s candidate from UP.
“He will file his nomination papers on November 10,” the leader told The Pioneer here on Friday, adding that “an official announcement in this regard will be made in New Delhi”.
The terms of 10 Rajya Sabha seats from UP will expire on November 25.
The Samajwadi Party has 235 members, including the three rebel MlAs of the Peace Party and one member of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, in the State Assembly. The Bahujan Samaj Party has 80 MlAs, the BJP 41, and the Congress 28 MlAs. The Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD) has eight members in the Assembly. Conventionally, 36 members elect one Rajya Sabha member.
With this arithmetic advantage, the SP’s 216 members can elect six members to the Upper House of Parliament and still have 19 members to forge an alliance with another party to elect a seventh consensus candidate. The BSP can send two members and the BJP one to the Rajya Sabha in the November 20 elections.
The SP has fielded six candidates, including its senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav. The BSP has named its sitting MP Rajaram and Vir Singh Advocate as its candidates for the election.
Six of the 10 Rajya Sabha members retiring on November 20 belong to the BSP. BJP’s Kusum Rai is also retiring and her seat will go to Manohar Parrikar.
The notification for the RS biennial polls was issued on November 3 and the last date for filing nominations is November 10.