Lucknow: The election for UPs 10 Rajya Sabha (RS) seats falling vacant this month-end promises to be an interesting tug-of-war which could define new electoral combinations for the coming Lok Sabha election.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The BSP has also declared its six candidates who will file their nominations on Friday. The election will be held on November 22.
The RS election could prove particularly decisive for the SP-Congress alliance which has been stalled for a long time due to differences over seat-sharing. From what Amar Singh told reporters after filing his nomination, the alliance seems anything but a distinct possibility.
"It is the Congress which should support our third candidate for Rajya Sabha," he said. "After all, we saved the Manmohan Singh government at a crucial time, and its because of the SP support that the nuclear deal could become a reality," he said.
About the seat-sharing formula, he tersely said: "We are always willing to leave Rae Bareli and Amethi for them. We supported the Manmohan government unconditionally, and in return, what did we get? In MP, the Congress engineered defection of four of our party MLAs. The Congress now has an opportunity to make amends, and it should unilaterally offer its support to our third candidate."
Lucknow: The election for UPs 10 Rajya Sabha (RS) seats falling vacant this month-end promises to be an interesting tug-of-war which could define new electoral combinations for the coming Lok Sabha election.
