LUKCNOW: Elections for 13 seats in UP legislative council will be held on April 26, the
Election Commission of India announced on Monday evening. The commission will issue the notification on April 9 and the last date of filing nomination will be April 16.
The announcement of legislative council election comes less than 10 days after the
BJP registered a win against the
SP and
Congress backed BSP candidate in the recently held
Rajya Sabha elections.
Of the 13 seats which will fall vacant on May 5, seven belong to the SP, two each to BSP and BJP and one to RLD. Those retiring from the seats include SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, SP chief spokesperson
Rajendra Chaudhary, minority affairs minister Mohsin Raza and Rural Development Minister Mahendra Singh.
Given the strength of UP assembly, a candidate will have to secure at least 29 votes to win. The BJP led
NDA, which has a strength of 324 MLAs can easily win 11 seats with five votes to spare. The SP, with 46 MLAs on the other hand, can comfortably win one with 17 votes to spare.
All eyes will be on the 13th seat for which SP and BSP may come together to field a candidate. The BSP, which has 18 MLAs, cannot win a single seat on its own. Political circles are abuzz about the SP supporting the BSP candidate.
