Will BJP give up a Rajya Sabha seat to save Mayawati’s last MP?
Before the all-important Assembly election battle early next year, political parties in Uttar Pradesh will have an opportunity to test their electoral arithmetic, organisational strength, and alliances in the October 16 elections to the Rajya Sabha for 10 seats and then in the MLC elections to 11 seats from the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies a week later.
The BJP has 256 MLAs in the Assembly and, along with its allies, a total of 292 seats. With the support of the two MLAs of the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik), the NDA has 294 MLAs on its side. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has 101 MLAs, while its ally Congress has two, taking the SP-Congress bloc’s strength to 103.
As things stand, the BJP-led alliance can secure eight of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats, while the SP, with the Congress’s support, can bag two. However, cross-voting and abstentions may decide the outcome. The numbers also have a bearing on the BSP, which does not have any MLAs and whose sole MP Ramji Gautam’s term is set to end. If the BJP decides to facilitate the election of a BSP candidate, the BJP-led alliance will have to accommodate that candidate, giving up one of its seats.
Thus, for the BJP-led alliance, the election will be a test of how effectively it manages its large Assembly majority while deciding whether to facilitate the BSP’s return to the Upper House of Parliament. For the SP, the contest will test its ability to retain its two-seat share.
The MPs who are completing their terms in November are:
BJP
Hardeep Singh Puri: A second-term Rajya Sabha MP from UP, Puri is currently the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. The 74-year-old is a former diplomat and was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in January 2018. He has served as MoS (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Arun Singh: Born in Mirzapur district, Singh, 61, is a second-term MP and a former BJP national general secretary. He earlier served as the headquarters in-charge of the BJP. He has earlier served as the BJP’s state in-charge of various states, including Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Ladakh.
Geeta Shakya: Belonging to the Shakya (OBC) community and hailing from Auraiya district, Geeta Shakya, 56, was a first-time MP who started her political career as a gram pradhan and held that position for 10 years. In June, she was appointed state BJP general secretary. Before that, she served as the Mahila Morcha’s state president.
Neeraj Shekhar: A three-term Rajya Sabha MP, Neeraj Shekhar is the son of former PM Chandra Shekhar. Neeraj joined the BJP in July 2019, a day after quitting the SP and resigning from the Upper House. Shekhar is from Ballia district in eastern UP. The 57-year-old was the SP’s Lok Sabha MP from Ballia from 2007 to 2014. The party sent him to the Rajya Sabha after he lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He sought the Ballia ticket again in 2019, but was denied. He currently holds no organisational post in the BJP.
Brij Lal: The former IPS officer served as the Uttar Pradesh DGP when the BSP was in power. He was considered to be one of the police officers close to then CM Mayawati and got posted as ADG (law and order) soon after the BSP came to power in 2007. The 71-year-old joined the BJP in 2015 and in 2018 was appointed chairman of the Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in UP.
B L Verma: The 65-year-old is the MoS in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. He is from the Lodh community (OBC) and he hails from Badaun district. He was considered close to former CM Kalyan Singh, who was the BJP’s biggest Lodh leader.
Seema Dwivedi: The first-time MP is from Jaunpur district in eastern UP. The 54-year-old is a three-time MLA, getting elected in 1996, 2007, and 2012.
Dinesh Sharma: He vacated the seat on September 11 after he was appointed Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Before his election to the Rajya Sabha, the 62–year-old served as Deputy CM. He has also served as the mayor of Lucknow.
Samajwadi Party
Ram Gopal Yadav: He is the uncle of SP president Akhilesh Yadav and a five-time Rajya Sabha MP. The 80-year-old Yadav is considered the party’s most important political strategist after Akhilesh Yadav and one of the main contact persons to the INDIA bloc.
BSP
Ramji Gautam: The 50-year-old is the only BSP representative left in Parliament. He is from Lakhimpur Kheri district and ran a business before joining politics. He was appointed BSP national vice-president in 2018 and the party’s national coordinator in June 2019.
