Lucknow | Jagran Politics Desk: Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party on Thursday announced that Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary will be their joint candidate for the ongoing Rajya Sabha Polls. RLD and SP had contested the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 together.
Jayant Chaudhary will be the third candidate of the Samajwadi Party for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. The party has already announced its support for Kapil Sibal yesterday, who is contesting as an independent candidate. Another SP nominee is Javed Ali.
By announcing support to Jayant Chaudhary, the Samajwadi Party has made the first move to cement the SP-RLD alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. Jayant is expected to file his nomination papers on Friday. The RLD has eight MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and a candidate needs 37 votes to win the seat.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party sources said that the party was likely to field Dimple Yadav in the upcoming by-election on the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat. The seat had fallen vacant after Akhilesh Yadav resigned from the Lok Sabha in March and opted to remain active in state politics.
Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states will take place on June 10. The maximum number of seats is in Uttar Pradesh, with polls to be held for 11 vacancies.
In February-march this year, the RLD which contested Assembly polls in alliance with the Samajwadi Party won only eight out of 33 seats on which the party had fielded candidates. The SP bagged 111 seats, a significant improvement from its 2017 tally when it secured only 47 seats.
The BJP has retained power in Uttar Pradesh by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing a 41.29 per cent vote share. Yogi Adityanath is the first Chief Minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in the state.
