LUCKNOW: Eight BJP candidates filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior party leaders.
Those who submitted papers included BJP's OBC Morcha national president K Laxman, former BJP state president Laxmikant Vajpayee, Mithilesh Kumar, Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal, Surendra Singh Nagar, Baburam Nishad, Darshana Singh and Sangeeta Yadav.
Adityanath, Deputy CMs - Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya - and senior party leaders were present on the occasion.
May 31 is the last date for nominations for 11 RS seats falling vacant from UP. The names of former Union minister Shiv Pratap Shukla and party's national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam are missing from the list.
They were among the five BJP RS MPs from UP retiring from the Upper house of Parliament.
Among the BJP candidates, Mithilesh Kumar is a former Lok Sabha MP from Shahjahanpur. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
He was also a two-time MLA from Powayan Assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur district, once as an independent (2002-2007) and then on Samajwadi Party ticket (2007-2012).
K Laxman is the national president of BJP's OBC morcha.
He was also the former president of BJP's Telangana unit while MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal, a former party MLA, had vacated the Gorakhpur Urban assembly constituency for Yogi Adityanath.
Laxmikant Vajpayee, was former state unit chief and Surendra Nagar is sitting Rajya Sabha MP.
Bauburam Nishad is the chairman of the UP Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation).
With 273 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the ruling BJP-led NDA will easily be able to get eight members elected to the Upper House of Parliament, while the SP and its allies (RLD and SBSP), with a strength of 125 legislators, will be able to ensure the victory of three candidates.
Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha. The saffron party has selected its nominees keeping in mind the social equation with an eye on the 2024 general elections.
Scrutiny of nominations will be done on June 1, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 3. Polling, if needed, will be held on June 10 and results will be declared the same day.
Samajwadi party has fielded Javed Ali Khan and supported independent Kapil Sibal and RLD Chief Jayant Chaudhury.