Reacting to reports that the Samajwadi Party may nominate him for the Rajya Sabha, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary maintained that the decision to nominate him “will be taken jointly” with the Samajwadi Party. However, he did mention that it will be an honour for him to be a member of the Upper House.
“Elections are not declared yet… they are going to happen in June and July. Of course, it is an honour to be a part of that House, and then get a platform to raise issues. So that decision will be taken by us jointly,” Chaudhary said speaking exclusively to FinancialExpress.com.
Jayant’s statement comes amid reports of chinks emerging in the Samajwadi Party-led alliance following the Uttar Pradesh election results. There has also been speculation that the Samajwadi Party may nominate the RLD chief to the Upper House as Akhilesh Yadav is said to be working on a strategy to keep the alliance intact.
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SP and its allies RLD (8) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (6) have a total strength of 125 MLAs in the UP Legislative Assembly, and they will be able to elect three candidates easily to the Rajya Sabha. As many as 11 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh are retiring in July.
The eleven Rajya Sabha MPs retiring from the state include five from the BJP, three from the SP, two from Bahujan Samaj Party and one from the Congress. UP sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha. Of this, 22 MPs are from BJP, five from SP, three from BSP and one from the Congress.
Since the current strength of the UP Assembly is 403, each Rajya Sabha candidate will require at least 37 votes to get elected. Having won 273 seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls, the BJP-led NDA will be able to elect at least seven members.
The contest will, therefore, boil down to the 11th seat for which both the BJP and SP will seek support from other parties including the BSP, the Congress and Raja Bhaiyya’s Jansatta Dal Loktantrik.
The five Rajya Sabha members from BJP retiring in July are Zafar Islam, former Union MoS Shiv Pratap Shukla, Samajwadi Party turncoat Surendra Nagar, former MoS Jai Prakash Nishad and Surendra Nagar.
Those completing their term in the Samajwadi Party include former UP Legislative council chairman Sukhram Singh Yadav, whose son Mohit recently joined the BJP. The other two retiring members are former Lok Sabha MP and UP cabinet minister Reoti Raman Singh and former Lok Sabha MP Vishambhar Prasad Nishad.
The Congress will get completely wiped out of its representation in Rajya Sabha from UP with the retirement of its senior leader Kapil Sibal. With just two MLAs, the Grand Old Party is in no position to field a candidate.
BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Siddharth will also retire, leaving the party with just one member — Ramji Gautam — in the Upper House.
Recently, in an interview to The Indian Express post the UP election results, the RLD chief expressed his displeasure at the delayed seat-sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party, and also cited it as among the reasons for the defeat in the elections.
However, speaking to FinancialExpress.com, Chaudhary softened his stand and said that the alliance with Yadav’s party will remain intact and that he was hopeful of contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together with the SP.