Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary at a joint press conference.
Highlights
- Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states will take place on June 10
- 11 Rajya Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh are among 57 who are retiring
- Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha -- highest by any state
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary will be the joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party and RLD for the Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) announced on Thursday.
"Jayant Chaudhary will be joint candidate of the SP and RLD," the Samajwadi Party said in a tweet from its official Twitter handle.
Congress veteran Kapil Sibal had on Wednesday filed his nomination as an SP-backed Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. Javed Ali Khan had filed his nomination for the election as an SP candidate.
Jayant had found himself on a sticky wicket after reports started doing the rounds that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav could get an Upper House berth. Dimple had lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 from Kannauj.
Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states will take place on June 10. The maximum number of seats falls in Uttar Pradesh i.e. 11. Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha.
Among the 11 retiring MPs from the state, five are from the BJP, three from the SP, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one from the Congress. Among those whose tenures are ending include Sibal, Satish Chandra Mishra of the BSP and Reoti Raman Singh of the SP.
The SP and its allies (RLD and SBSP), with a strength of 125 legislators, are in a comfortable position to win three seats. 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.
READ MORE: Kapil Sibal files nomination for Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh
