SP Drops Plans To Field Third Candidate, BJP Likely To Win Eight UP Rajya Sabha Seats Unopposed

The Samajwadi Party has decided not to field a third candidate in Uttar Pradesh’s Rajya Sabha elections, leaving the BJP on course to secure eight of the 10 seats unopposed, Hindustan Times reported citing people familiar with the matter said.

The decision, taken on Tuesday morning ahead of Wednesday’s nomination deadline, followed concerns over securing outside support and cross-voting. The SP’s two nominees, Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, are expected to win comfortably on the strength of the party’s Assembly numbers.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also confirmed in a post on X that the party's "eye is not on three (seats) but on four hundred three (seats)."

The SP had considered nominating another candidate before the BJP announced eight names on Monday. Its decision leaves 10 candidates for as many vacancies, making an uncontested election likely. Polling, if required, is scheduled for October 16.

Why Did SP Change Its Mind?

The SP-led bloc has sufficient Assembly votes to elect two candidates, but a third would have required support from outside the alliance.

Each candidate needs 37 first-preference votes. The BJP, too, faced a gap between its assured strength and its ambitions: it could comfortably elect seven candidates but needed additional votes for an eighth.

Hindustan Times reported on October 5 that both parties were watching each other’s moves closely because cross-voting could determine the outcome if an eleventh candidate entered the contest.

For the SP, the prospect of drawing support from NDA legislators was complicated by the approaching 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Some MLAs in the ruling alliance were understood to be uncomfortable with openly voting against their party’s nominee months before the state polls.

BJP Candidates

The BJP has selected an entirely new slate, including former Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and Shruti Gangwar, daughter of Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar. They are the two women nominated by the party.

The remaining six candidates are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan.

Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma have not been renominated. Other sitting MPs excluded from the list are Arun Singh, Seema Dwivedi, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal and Geeta Shakya.

Dinesh Sharma, another outgoing member, is currently serving as Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Advantage To BJP

Eight of the 10 seats falling vacant are currently held by the BJP, while the SP and BSP hold one each.

An uncontested election would allow the BJP to retain eight seats and give the SP the remaining two. The BSP-held seat would therefore pass to the SP, while the BJP would avoid having to secure additional votes for its eighth nominee in a contested ballot.