BJP looks to increase seats in Uttar Pradesh Council elections this year

In the December 2020 polls for 11 seats, the BJP won six, while the SP and Independents scooped up three and two seats, respectively

After scoring wins in the Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and the state’s Vidhan Parishad in pandemic-hit 2020, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to further consolidate its position in the UP Upper House, for which elections are due this month.

The election is all the more significant as former IAS officer Arvind Kumar Sharma, who had a high-profile posting in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), quit the service and has been nominated for the state Council polls. Normally, a two-year cooling-off period is mandatory when a bureaucrat leaves an all-India service, though this can be waived.

Though the