Bollywood actor and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Jaya Bachchan on Friday, 9 March, filed nomination papers as an SP candidate from Uttar Pradesh for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections.
Accompained by party leaders Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rajendra Chowdhury and Kironmay Nanda, besides businessman Subrata Roy Sahara, Jaya Bachchan, who turns 70 next month, filed her nomination at the Central Hall of the state Assembly.
Talking to reporters afterwards, she said, "I want to thank Mulayam Singh Yadav ji, all party MLAs and MLCs for my candidature." On being asked about getting the party ticket over senior members like Kironmay Nanda and Naresh Agarwal, the three-time SP MP said, "I am also senior."
Her ongoing term in Rajya Sabha ends on 2 April. The biennial elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held on 23 March.
In the 245-member Upper House of Parliament, Uttar Pradesh has 31 seats, being the most populous state.
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have 324 seats, after a BJP MLA died in February, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 47 MLAs, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 19. The Congress has seven MLAs in UP, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has one.
During the previous biennial polls to the Rajya Sabha two years ago, the SP managed to win six seats by virtue of its strength in the Assembly, whose members form the electoral college.
But this time, the SP can be sure of wining only one seat as 37 first preference votes are required to elect a member.
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