Ten BJP, two SP candidates elected unopposed to UP Legislative Council
Lucknow: Ten BJP and two Samajwadi candidates were elected unopposed to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Thursday.
Those elected included Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, former IAS officer A K Sharma and state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh.
"All 12 candidates have been declared elected unopposed. I have given winning certificates to all of them," Returning Officer Brijbhushan Dubey said.
After the nomination papers of independent candidate Mahesh Chandra Sharma were rejected during the scrutiny on Tuesday, the decks had cleared for the election of the BJP and SP candidates to the legislative council.
Sharma's nomination was rejected as it did not have proposers and the papers lacked the receipt of the payment of fee. As per the election schedule, names could have been withdrawn till January 21.
The other BJP candidates declared elected unopposed were Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Govind Narayan Shukla, Salil Bishnoi, Ashwani Tyagi, Dharamveer Prajapati and Surendra Chaudhary.
The Samajwadi Party candidates who made it to the legislative council were Ahmed Hasan and Rajendra Chaudhary.
After receiving the winning certificate, BJP candidate A K Sharma in his tweet said, "Thank BJP and its central and state leadership and workers for making MLC of @BJP4UP. Life is for Nation; BJP my dignity, Lotus is Identity. Thank Honourable (Narendra) Modi ji from heart."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also congratulated the winners.
"I hope that all you will be helpful in fulfilling thought of a self-reliant UP. Best wished for your bright tenure," the CM said.
Even after winning 10 seats in the biennial elections, the ruling BJP is far short of the halfway mark in the Upper House of the state legislature, despite enjoying the support of the Apna Dal (S).
In the 100-member UP Legislative Council, the Samajwadi Party has 51 members, BJP 32, BSP six, Congress two, Nirdaliye Samooh, Apna Dal (S) and Shikshak Dal one each. There are three independent MLCs, while three seats are vacant.
