Barring Meerut-Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr seats, which have been left for ally Rashtriya Lok Dal, the party has declared its candidates on all the remaining 34 seats, said SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury. The Samajwadi Party on Sunday finalised the names of 34 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections — to be held on April 9 — and gave ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) two seats.
Barring Meerut-Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr seats, which have been left for ally Rashtriya Lok Dal, the party has declared its candidates on all the remaining 34 seats, said SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury.
At present, 37 seats, including 36 on which elections are being held, are vacant in the 100-member council — a third of its members retire every two years.
The SP and the RLD have been allies since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the two parties also contested the just-concluded UP Assembly elections together, where the RLD won eight out of 33 seats it had contested. The allies have signalled that they will continue with the pact in the coming time.
The SP had on Wednesday announced 19 candidates, including that of suspended Gorakhpur paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan from Kushinagar seat.
Currently, the BJP has 35 MLCs, SP has 17 and the BSP has four MLCs in the council. The Teachers’ group has two MLCs, while the Independent group (‘Nirdal Samooh’), and Independents have one MLC each. The last date for filing nominations is March 21, while the polling for all 36 seats will be held on April 9. The counting of votes will be done on April 12.
(With PTI inputs)
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