New Delhi, Feb 27: The election for 15 Rajya Sabha seats across three states will be held on Tuesday amid concern about cross-voting.
A total of 41 leaders for 56 seats have already been elected unopposed. Those elected included former Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L. Murugan.
For 15 seats, elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, 11 candidates are in the fray with the BJP and the SP having the numbers to send seven and three members respectively. But BJP's Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate has necessitated a keen contest. The BJP is said to be banking on surplus votes from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which has aligned with the NDA.
The BJP has fielded former Union Minister R.P.N. Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, senior state leader Amarpal Maurya, former Minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind), party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain.
The SP has fielded actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman.
In Karnataka, the ruling Congress shifted its MLAs to a private hotel on Monday. There are four Rajya Sabha seats and five candidates. From the Congress, former Union Minister Ajay Maken, current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekar are contesting. BJP's former MLC Narayansa Bhandage is contesting and Kupendra Reddy is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate.
In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has forced a contest on the state's single seat by fielding Harsh Mahajan against Congress's Abhishek Manu Singhvi. While the Congress has 40 MLAs to the BJP's 25, the election will be seen as a prestige battle for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Voting in Rajya Sabha polls underway
Voting in the elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh began around 9 am on Tuesday, officials said.
The BJP and the SP are the two largest parties in the 403-member state assembly with 252 MLAs and 108 MLAs respectively. The Congress, an alliance partner of the SP, has two seats.
BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 seats, the NISHAD Party has six seats, RLD has nine seats, SBSP six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik two and the BSP has one seat. Four seats are currently vacant.
Polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm. Counting will commence from 5 pm and results are likely to be announced on Tuesday night.
UP: SP, BJP candidates
BJP had earlier announced only seven names, including former Union Minister R.P.N. Singh, former Agra mayor Navin Jain, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former Mathura MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, former UP MLAs Sangeeta Balwant and Sadhna Singh, along with state BJP General Secretary Amar Pal Maurya.
The SP has fielded three candidates, including Jaya Bachchan, who is the four-time RS MP and is being given the fifth term, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan and Ramji Lal Suman.
Of the 10 seats going to be vacant on April 2, nine are from BJP quota and one — Jaya Bachchan — from SP.
UP: 11 candidates are in the fray
A total of 11 candidates are in the fray with the BJP and the SP have the numbers to send seven and three members respectively. But BJP's Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate, has necessitated a keen contest.
Cong in Himachal on BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate complaining to EC
