- Party to win 10 out of 11 seats in UP, Uttrakhand
New Delhi, Oct 13
The ruling BJP may be losing allies at a rapid speed but its strength will touch a whopping 94 seats in the Upper House when biennial polls are held in UP and Uttrakhand. The biennial poll process has been set in motion by the Election Commission.
As many as eleven members of the Rajya Sabha are retiring from UP (10) and Uttrakhand (1). The BJP is all set to grab nearly 10 seats out of these 11 on the basis of its strength in respective state assemblies. Currently, the BJP has 86 MPs in Rajya Sabha. The Congress Party's strength will go down further to 38.
In UP alone, the BJP is likely to win 9 out of ten seats and the lone seat in Uttrakhand. The BJP's three retiring MPs - Civil Aviation & Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, general secretary Arun Singh and Neeraj Shekhar are looking for being re-nominated. But it will win six extra seats. The Samajwadi Party will win the lone seat in UP as it has 54 MLAs in the 403 member State Assembly. There is a likelihood that Ram Gopal Yadav, a brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav, may be nominated for it. Yet the SP will suffer a huge loss as its strength will come down from 8 to five.
The BSP will be left with just two MPs in the Rajya Sabha and cannot get any of its nominees elected as it has just 19 MLAs. The composition of the UP Assembly is such that even if the Opposition parties join hands, they cannot win more than one seat. The Congress' P L Punia will also be left high & dry as he too will retire in November. Raj Babbar of Congress who was elected from Uttrakhand, is also retiring in November. Congress's Raj Babbar will also be out of Rajya Sabha from Uttrakhand and BJP will win the seat instead.
