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LUCKNOW: UP BJP may spring a major surprise in its list of Rajya Sabha candidates amid speculations that a senior minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet could be fielded as one of its nominees for the polls to the Upper House due on June 10.
It is learnt that the name of the senior minister has figured in the list of 20 probables, which BJP’s state unit has sent to the central leadership.
Given their strength in the UP assembly, BJP-led NDA and SP and its allies can easily win seven and three seats, respectively. Political circles are abuzz that BJP could pick a Lucknow businessman to lock horns with SP for the high voltage contest for the 11th seat. The businessman whom BJP may pitch as its eighth candidate also happens to be the son of a late politician.
Sources said BJP may also repeat some of its retiring MPs – Shiv Pratap Shukla, Zafar Islam, Jai Prakash Nishad, Surendra Nagar and Sanjay Seth. The sources said it was certain that the party would prop up a prominent Brahmin leader as one of its candidates. It is, however, not certain if Shukla will be repeated or BJP will field former state unit chief Laxmi Kant Bajpai.
BJP insiders do not rule out the possibility of accommodating a Jat leader from west UP to consolidate the community that played an important role in the party’s return to power. This becomes more pertinent as BJP would seek to counter SP’s move to field RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary. SP, experts said, picked Sibal, who played a major role in securing bail for senior leader Azam Khan in a move to consolidate Muslim votes along with Jats.
Speculations are also rife about Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi being routed to Rajya Sabha from UP. Naqvi, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, will retire on July 7. Another name doing the rounds is that of Naresh Agarwal, who switched to BJP after being denied a ticket by SP in 2018. Naresh’s son Nitin is a minister in the Yogi cabinet.
It is learnt that the name of the senior minister has figured in the list of 20 probables, which BJP’s state unit has sent to the central leadership.
Given their strength in the UP assembly, BJP-led NDA and SP and its allies can easily win seven and three seats, respectively. Political circles are abuzz that BJP could pick a Lucknow businessman to lock horns with SP for the high voltage contest for the 11th seat. The businessman whom BJP may pitch as its eighth candidate also happens to be the son of a late politician.
Sources said BJP may also repeat some of its retiring MPs – Shiv Pratap Shukla, Zafar Islam, Jai Prakash Nishad, Surendra Nagar and Sanjay Seth. The sources said it was certain that the party would prop up a prominent Brahmin leader as one of its candidates. It is, however, not certain if Shukla will be repeated or BJP will field former state unit chief Laxmi Kant Bajpai.
BJP insiders do not rule out the possibility of accommodating a Jat leader from west UP to consolidate the community that played an important role in the party’s return to power. This becomes more pertinent as BJP would seek to counter SP’s move to field RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary. SP, experts said, picked Sibal, who played a major role in securing bail for senior leader Azam Khan in a move to consolidate Muslim votes along with Jats.
Speculations are also rife about Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi being routed to Rajya Sabha from UP. Naqvi, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, will retire on July 7. Another name doing the rounds is that of Naresh Agarwal, who switched to BJP after being denied a ticket by SP in 2018. Naresh’s son Nitin is a minister in the Yogi cabinet.
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