Lucknow: Naresh Uttam Patel, the state chief of Samajwadi Party's Uttar Pradesh, met Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) leader Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, as the former looks for a possible alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections later this year. Patel also sought Raja Bhaiya's support for SP in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections next week.
The SP state chief Patel met Raja Bhaiya, an MLA from Kunda, at his residence. The latter's Jansatta Dal has only two MLAs in the UP Legislative Assembly, including himself. Raja Bhaiya held a telephonic conversation with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Patel and Raja Bhaiya also spoke on a possible alliance in the Lok Sabha polls, although details are yet to be provided.
Patel's meeting with Raja Bhaiya is interesting given that the two members of his party are believed to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the upcoming polls.
Akhilesh Yadav speaks to Raja Bhaiya
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Raja Bhaiya over the phone today and if sources are to believe there was a positive conversation between them. The Samajwadi Party sought support for the Rajya Sabha elections.
The discussion between the two leaders also revolved around the allocation of four seats in the Lok Sabha. However, no decision has been made yet by Raja Bhaiya's party.
The Election Commission announced the date for 56 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states. The elections will take place on February 27 and the votes will be counted on the same day. The term of office of 56 members, including former PM Manmohan Singh and BJP national president JP Nadda, are due to expire on their retirement in April 2024. he nominations began from February 8
UP Rajya Sabha elections
Uttar Pradesh has 10 seats on which the elections will be held with a total of 11 candidates - eight from the BJP and three from the SP. The BJP nominated Sanjay Seth as its eighth official candidate at the last-minute, which is expected to create trouble for the Akhilesh Yadav-led candidate.
The Samajwadi Party nominated three leaders including Jaya Bachchan, Ramjilal Suman and Alok Ranjan for Rajya Sabha. The BJP has fielded Sudhanshu Trivedi, RPN Singh, Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Sangeeta Balwant, Sadhna Singh, Naveen Jain and Sanjay Seth.
The SP needs 111 votes to win all three seats but currently holds only 108. SP MLA Ramakant Yadav is in jail, and another MLA, Pallavi Patel, is unhappy. In this scenario, the SP will have 106 votes. Even if the SP receives two votes from the Congress party, they will still have 108 votes (106+2), falling short by three votes.
According to sources, the BJP is short of 10 votes to win the eighth Rajya Sabha seat. The BJP has 252 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, and it is supported by several NDA partners, including Apna Dal-Sonelal (13 MLAs), the NISHAD Party (6 MLAs), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP: 6 MLAs), and Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD: 9 MLAs).
Overall there are 238 elected representatives in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP holds the highest number of seats with 93, followed by the Congress party with 30 seats. Other significant parties include the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with 13 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with 10 seats, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with 10 seats, among others.
Congress-SP talks
In yet another big jolt to the I.N.D.I.A bloc, the ongoing talks between the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress regarding the poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh have reached a dead end, sources said. Talks continued till late night between Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav regarding the seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections but no consensus could be reached.
The SP has already announced 27 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the two separate lists. Sitting MP Dimple Yadav has been fielded from Mainpuri, while party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq will contest from Sambhal. According to sources, the Congress wanted a few changes to the list of 17 candidates that the Samajwadi Party had sent. However, the UP-based regional party is not in favour of any change.
Akhilesh Yadav has offered 17 seats to Congress to contest in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, as part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc seat-sharing formula. Ajay Rai, the Congress' Uttar Pradesh unit chief, had earlier said the party should get around two dozen seats it had won in the 2009 general elections.
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