Rajya Sabha results not in, Akhilesh Yadav says third seat bid was “test”

Akhilesh Yadav fields three candidates for Rajya Sabha elections

Lucknow:

Hours after at least five Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs in Uttar Pradesh cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the SP’s decision to field a third candidate was actually a “test” and The victory of the party lies in this. That the rebels have been identified.

“Our third seat (bid) was actually a test to identify true comrades. It was to know who is with people from backward classes, Dalits and minority communities and whose internal voice is against them. Now everything is clear. .This is our third seat win,” Mr Yadav said in a post on

Our third seat in the Rajya Sabha was actually a test to identify the true comrades and to know who was with the PDA at heart and who was against the backward classes, Dalits and minorities by conscience.

Now everything is clear, this is the victory of the third seat. pic.twitter.com/SWzDhvtnvF

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) 27 February 2024

The results of the elections on 10 Rajya Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh have not been declared yet.

SP suffered a major blow this morning when its chief whip in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Manoj Kumar Pandey, resigned just hours before the elections. Mr Pandey and four others were later seen showing victory signs along with BJP candidate RPN Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak.

Mr Yadav had a inkling of an impending rebellion last night when eight MLAs did not attend a dinner organized by him. “We knew they would revolt when they did not attend the dinner. There was talk that different packages have been offered to expel those in rebellion,” he told NDTV after casting his vote in the Assembly this morning. Will be done.” Earlier he had said that BJP can adopt every trick to win the elections. He had said, “Some of our leaders who want personal gains can join BJP.”

The rebellion within the SP comes at a difficult time for Mr Yadav. Lok Sabha elections are a few months away and the party will contest 63 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

There are 11 candidates in the race for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh – 8 from the ruling BJP and 3 from the main opposition SP. The BJP is confident of victory for all its candidates, especially as it has recently secured the support of the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal. State BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said, “We have the support of Nishad Party, Suhail Dev Samaj Party, Apna Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Jansatta Dal. I am confident that all the eight NDA candidates will win.”

Earlier, BJP leaders had claimed that a section of SP MLAs were in touch with them. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had even said that Mr Yadav did not have enough numbers to win the three seats.

BJP has 252 seats in Uttar Pradesh Assembly and SP has 108 seats. The eight BJP candidates are former Union Minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejvir Singh, BJP Uttar Pradesh unit general secretary Amarpal Maurya, former Minister of State Sangeeta Balwant (Bind). , party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, former Agra Mayor Naveen Jain and Sanjay Seth.

SP has fielded actress MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan and Ramji Lal Suman. The BJP has enough numbers to get seven candidates elected, but its move to field an eighth has forced competition. And cross-voting could ultimately help him win.