Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and 12 others were elected unopposed to the Legislative Council on Thursday.
Only 13 candidates — eight of the Bahujan Samaj Party, three of the Samajwadi Party and one each of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress — had filed papers for as many seats.
After the expiry of the last date for withdrawals, Returning Officer Pradeep Kumar Dubey announced the election of Ms. Mayawati, Satish Chandra Jatav, Rishipal Gautam, Ram Kumar Kureel, Subodh Parashar, Mohammad Athar Khan, Lalchand Nishad and Virendra Chauhan (all BSP); Balram Yadav, Ram Sunder Das Nishad and Yashwant Singh (SP); Hridya Narain Dixit (BJP) and Naseeb Pathan (Congress).
Now the BSP's strength in the Council has gone up to 65 from 57.
