The ruling BSP in Uttar Pradesh is all set to further cut its arch-rival Samajwadi Party into size as far as strength in the Rajya Sabha is concerned. The BSP will improve its strength from the existing 13 to 17 in the RS, while the SP will go down from the current 11 to six, with the biennial elections set for next month.

Enjoying absolute majority in the UP Assembly, the BSP will win a minimum of six seats, as votes of 34 MLAs will be required to ensure victory of one candidate for the RS. The BSP will still have an extra 22 votes and could even go on to bag another seat in the Upper House by cobbling up the support of 12 more MLAs, as there are nine Independents in the Assembly along with four rebel legislators from the SP ranks also. Only three of the BSP MPs from RS, namely Satish Chandra Misra, Ambeth Rajan and Sriram Pal, are retiring on July 4.
To the discomfiture of the SP, seven of the party MPs are retiring from the Rajya Sabha, which includes Jaya Bachchan, Kamal Akhtar, Amir Alam Khan, Ram Narayan Sahu, Bhagwati Singh, Brij Bhushan Tiwari and Nand Kishore Yadav. However, the SP can ensure victory of only two of its candidates, as the party has only 87 MLAs. The SP will be left with 21 extra votes in the process and can extend the support to other parties.
The same pattern is all set to be repeated even for the elections of the Vidhan Parishad where 13 members are retiring on July 6. The party, at present, has two members, including chief minister Mayawati, who will be retiring in July but the BSP is now in a position to send seven members to the legislative council, while the SP will here be down to three only.
The BJP, on its own, will be able to send one member each to the Rajya Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad and if it manages to revive its alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), it could increase its strength in both the Houses.
Interestingly, the Congress, with 20 members in the state Assembly, is not in a position to send even one member to either the Rajya Sabha or the Vidhan Parishad. However, party managers are confident of winning over the RLD support. “It is in the larger interests of the RLD to support us in UP and we are confident that we will make our presence felt in these elections,” said a senior Congress functionary.
However, the RS and the Vidhan Parishad biennial elections are likely to witness a role of money power and defections for the last two seats since all parties will be depending on defections and splits to grab an extra seat for themselves.

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Vajpayee’s niece in race for RS
Rabindra Nath Choudhury
Raipur

May 14: The race for Rajya Sabha nomination from Chhattisgarh hots up in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here with former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s niece and national vice-president of the party Karuna Shukla reportedly throwing her hat into the ring.
Party sources said Ms Shukla is a front-runner among the RS aspirants in the state party. A former Lok Sabha member, Ms Shukla had lost the last parliamentary polls from Korba in Chhattisgarh.
Two RS seats from the state fall vacant next month following expiry of terms of Mohsina Kidwai (Congress) and Nandkumar Sai (BJP).