Thirteen candidates, including 10 of the Bharatiya Janata Party, were declared elected unopposed to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Thursday.
Two U.P. Ministers — Mahendra Singh and Mohsin Raza — and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s B.R. Ambedkar, who lost in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the State to the BJP, were among those elected, apart from one candidate each of the Samajwadi Party and BJP ally Apna Dal (S).
In neighbouring Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Rabri Devi were among the 11 candidates declared elected unopposed in the biennial elections to the State Legislative Council. Among the winners, four belong to the RJD, three each to the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP besides one from the Congress.
“Today was the last date for withdrawal of nominations for 13 seats and since no one withdrew from the fray, all the 13 candidates were declared elected,” Returning Officer Ashok Chaubey said in Lucknow.
The BJP, which has 21 members after Thursday’s poll result, is still far short of majority in the 100-member Upper House in Uttar Pradesh. The SP now has 55 members, BSP eight, Congress two, Apna Dal (S) one and others 12, while one seat is vacant.
In Bihar, the ruling JD(U) and the BJP lost two seats and one seat respectively while the RJD gained three seats and the Congress one seat.
“All the 11 candidates were declared elected unopposed in biennial elections to the Legislative Council... I gave them certificates (for getting elected to the Legislative Council),” Bihar Assembly Secretary-cum-Returning Officer Ram Shrestha Rai said in Patna.
