The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released the list of its seven candidates for the Legislative Council election in Uttar Pradesh. Senior BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak, former Minister Mahendra Kumar Singh, Mohit Beniwal, Ashok Katariya, Dharmendra Singh, Ramtirath Singhal, and Santosh Singh have been nominated by the party to contest the election. The last date for the filing of nominations is on March 11.
The council elections are scheduled on March 21 for the 13 Legislative Council seats in the State. Out of the 13 members whose term ends on May 5, ten are from the BJP, while the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Apna Dal (Sonelal) have a member each. The BJP repeated Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Mahendra Kumar Singh, and Ashok Katariya for the Council seats while four leaders: Mohit Beniwal, Dharmendra Singh, Ramtirath Singh, and Santosh Singh have been nominated for the first time to the Council.
“Our party always gives preference to workers. All the workers have been nominated for the Council seats. The leaders have worked in the party’s organisation for a long time and remain office bearers holding key posts,” U.P. BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told The Hindu.
The list of candidates highlights the party’s focus on the core Brahmin-Rajput and non-Yadav Other Backward Classes with six out of seven nominees hailing from the aforesaid social groups.
Currently, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will be able to send 10 members to the council, while the Samajwadi Party is capable of sending three members to the Upper House of the State Legislature. The Council members will be elected according to the strength of the parties in the State Legislative Assembly. On its own, the BJP has 252 members in the Assembly, while its partners Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 members, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Apna Dal party has six members, the Rashtriya Lok Dal boasts nine MLAs, and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, has six MLAs, two members of Jansatta Dal Loktantrik, and one member of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
