3rd seat was loyalty test; feel ditched: Akhilesh Yadav after RS polling

Seven MLAs from Samajwadi Party (SP) cross-voted for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh

As seven Samajwadi Party (SP) Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) cross-voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, its chief Akhilesh Yadav stated that the party's decision to field a third candidate was a "loyalty test" to identify the rebels.

"Our third seat [bid] in the Rajya Sabha was actually a test to identify the true companions and to know who was with the Progressive Democratic Alliance at heart and who was against the backward classes, Dalits, and minorities by conscience," Akhilesh Yadav wrote in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter).

"Now everything is clear, the third seat is our victory," he added.

 

His comments came while voting for the state's ten Rajya Sabha seats was underway.

According to a report by India Today, the SP MLAs who cross-voted were Rakesh Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Abhay Singh, Vinod Chaturvedi, Manoj Pandey, Ashutosh Maurya, and Pooja Pal. One legislator, Maharaji Prajapati, was absent.

Earlier in the day, SP MLA Manoj Pandey of Unchahar quit as the party's chief whip, dealing a blow to Akhilesh Yadav. Following his resignation, Manoj Pandey announced that he would vote for the BJP.

His resignation was accepted, and his nameplate was taken down from outside the chief whip's office.

This development came a day after eight party MLAs, including Manoj Pandey, did not attend a meeting called by Akhilesh Yadav.

Rajya Sabha elections

Voting began this morning in the high-stakes elections for Uttar Pradesh's ten Rajya Sabha seats, with eight BJP candidates and three SP candidates competing.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and Akhilesh Yadav were among the prominent figures who turned up to vote in the state Assembly.

Meanwhile, 10 Samajwadi Party MLAs are in talks with the BJP over an eighth Rajya Sabha seat and could cross-vote for the party, according to sources.

The ruling BJP and the main Opposition SP have the numbers to send seven and three members, respectively, unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, but with the BJP fielding its eighth candidate, a keen contest is on the cards in one of the seats.

The BJP and the SP are the two largest parties in the 403-member state Assembly, with 252 and 108 MLAs, respectively. The Congress, the SP's alliance partner, holds two seats.

Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally, has 13 seats; the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) has six; the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has nine; the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has six; Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has two; and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has one. Four seats are currently vacant.

The seven other candidates fielded by the BJP are former Union Minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, general secretary of the party's Uttar Pradesh unit Amarpal Maurya, former state minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind), party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain.

The SP has fielded actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired Indian Administrative Service officer Alok Ranjan, and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman.

To get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, a candidate needs nearly 37 first-preference votes.