After the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party have geared up for the upcoming MLC elections on 36 seats of the State Legislative Council (UP MLC Election 2022) to be held on April 9. It is being said that the BJP has almost finalized names of the candidates for MLC elections in the BJP core committee meeting held in Lucknow recently, while the Samajwadi Party is in no mood to give tickets to non-performers.
If sources are to be believed, the names of MLC candidates have been finalized in the BJP core group meeting and the list of candidates will be released after a nod from the central leadership. Sources suggest that feedback has been taken from local MPs and MLAs before preparing the list of possible candidates for MLC elections. It is being said that apart from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, UP BJP in-charge Radha Mohan Singh, Swatantra Dev Singh and Organization General Secretary Sunil Bansal were also present in the key meeting.
On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party, sources suggest, is preparing to give priority to new people instead of old faces. It is being said that the party may deny tickets to non-performing sitting MLCs. Also sources suggest that some MLA candidates who lost by a narrow margin may get a ticket in the MLC elections. Party sources indicate that the Samajwadi Party may announce the names of the candidates on Tuesday, the March 15.
The voting will take place on a single day. The Election Commission had said in a statement on February 6 that the program has been changed following the demands of political parties. The commission had announced on January 28 that the Legislative Council elections would be held in two phases on March 3 and 7. The counting of votes was to be held on March 12, but now in both the phases, polling will be held on April 9 and counting of votes on April 12.
The 100-member Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh currently has 35 members from the BJP, 17 from the SP and four from the Bahujan Samaj Party. Congress, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party have one member each in the UP Legislative Council. At present 37 seats are vacant. Leader of the Opposition in the Council Ahmed Hassan passed away after prolonged illness. Before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, many SP’s MLCs had joined the BJP. These included Narendra Singh Bhati, Shatrudra Prakash, Rama Niranjan, Ravi Shankar Singh Pappu, CP Chandra, Ghanshyam Lodhi, Shailendra Pratap Singh and Ramesh Mishra. BSP MLC Suresh Kashyap has also joined BJP.
In the recently concluded UP Assembly elections, the BJP has won 255 seats, while its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party won 12 and six seats respectively. The Samajwadi Party has won 111 seats, while its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal has won 8 seats and another ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has won six seats. The Congress has won two seats, while the BSP has won one. Apart from this, Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has captured two seats.
