SP Declares Uttar Pradesh Candidate List for Rajya Sabha Election, Jaya Bachchan Renominated

LUCKNOW, UTTAR PRADESH: The Samajwadi Party, on Tuesday, renominated Jaya Bachchan and released its list of candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election. Jaya Bachchan aside, the SP announced the candidature of former MP Ramjilal Suman and retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan. All three candidates filed their nominations at the Uttar Pradesh Assembly complex in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav, party general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav and other leaders of the Samajwadi Party. As per the Returning Officer and Special Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Braj Bhushan Dubey, all three candidates submitted their nomination papers in two sets and the scrutiny of the papers will be held on February 16 from 11:00 onwards. 

Bachchan's fourth term as a Rajya Sabha member is ongoing and the actor-turned-politician has been renominated for a fifth term.

Suman is a four-time MP from Firozabad. He became an MP in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket, in 1989 on a Janta Dal ticket, and in 1999 and 2004 on an SP ticket.

Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ranjan was the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh during the SP government.

In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 252 members, the SP has 108 and the Congress has two. The SP and the Congress are opposition parties in the state and also partners in the INDIA bloc, an alliance of parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 members, while the NISHAD party has six in the House. RLD has nine members, SBSP has six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has two and BSP has one. Four seats are vacant. A candidate needs 37 first-preference votes to secure a seat in the Rajya Sabha.

When SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary was asked that the party could fall short by a vote to get all three to the Rajya Sabha, he told PTI, "We will appeal to all MLAs to vote by listening to their conscience and all of our candidates will win." Asked about the choice of candidates, SP MLA Manoj Pandey told reporters in Lucknow that Suman belongs to the Dalit community while Bachchan is a famous actor.

With inputs from PTI.