Lucknow, Oct. 6 -- Filing of nomination papers for Rajya Sabha polls ended at 3 pm on Tuesday, with the BJP fielding eight candidates from Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party two, all of whom are expected to be elected unopposed.
The terms of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from UP end on November 25, necessitating the elections.
Two independent candidates- Kante Syana, a resident of Tamil Nadu, and Onkar Nath Chaurasia- are also in the fray, but their candidatures will be rejected due to technicalities, the Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha poll, Ajeet Verma, told news agency. "As of now, 12 candidates are technically in the fray. These include eight from BJP and two from Samajwadi Party. The nominations of 2 independents lack the mandatory signature of 10 lawmakers and would be rejected during scrutiny," Verma said, making it clear that both the BJP and SP candidates are set to be declared elected unopposed.
Tuesday was the last date for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls, followed by scrutiny of papers on October 7. Names can be withdrawn till October 9, while polling (if necessary) will be conducted on October 16.
Earlier on Tuesday, BJP candidates including 3 from OBCs -- UP minister Dharampal Singh (Lodh), OBC wing chief Prakash Pal (Pal), Shruti Gangwar (Kurmi); two from the Dalit community -- Vidya Sagar Sonkar and Priyanka Rawat; two from the Brahmin community -- Radhakant Ojha, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan (Thakur) filed their nomination papers.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.