LUCKNOW: All 10 candidates contesting Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh — eight from BJP and two from Samajwadi Party — are set to get elected unopposed after the SP decided against fielding its third candidate on the last day of nominations on Tuesday.The SP decision ruled out the poll contest, with BJP poised to secure all eight seats with its numbers and SP retaining its share of two seats with around two dozen votes to spare.The formal declaration of results will be made only after the nomination scrutiny and withdrawal process concludes on Oct 9.If no candidate withdraws, all 10 nominees will be declared elected unopposed. The eight BJP candidates who will reach the upper house of Parliament are Dharampal Singh, Prakash Pal, Shruti Gangwar, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Radha Kant Ojha, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan.SP candidates – party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Reliance Industries executive Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani – too would sail through easily.The absence of a likely contest between BJP and SP was seen as significant as the Rajya Sabha polls got projected as one of the first major electoral tests ahead of the UP Assembly elections due in less than six months.Political observers said a contest could have led to a complex numbers game. With BJP and its allies enjoying a comfortable majority in the state Assembly, the NDA alliance was well placed to win eight seats. Any attempt by SP to field a third candidate would have required support from other parties or dependence on cross-voting and strategic voting by legislators. Such a move also carried the risk of exposing fault lines within the opposition camp.For BJP, the likely unopposed victory of its nominees will offer an opportunity to underline its numerical strength in the Assembly. For SP, avoiding an unnecessary contest allows it to conserve political and organisational resources for the larger battle ahead: the 2027 Assembly elections.Not surprisingly, BJP turned the nomination filing into a show of organisational strength on Tuesday. All eight candidates reached the party state headquarters in Lucknow before proceeding to the Vidhan Bhawan to file their nominations. They were accompanied by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, UP BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary and several senior party members and office-bearers.The BJP office in Lucknow was decked up for the occasion, with party workers and supporters thronging the premises. Drumbeats and slogans created a celebratory atmosphere around what was otherwise a routine electoral exercise.The mobilisation, sources said, was aimed less at the outcome of Rajya Sabha election and more at projecting organisational unity and confidence among the party workers.
