Samajwadi Party Names Ramgopal Yadav, Dhanraj Nathwani For Rajya Sabha From Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday named Professor Ramgopal Yadava and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani as its two candidates for the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. The two candidates are likely to file their nominations on Wednesday in the presence of party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.   

Ahead of the nomination filing, Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar took a sharp dig at the Samajwadi Party's candidate selection, questioning whether the party intends to send family members, the wealthy, and criminals from the Pichhada, Dalit, and Alpashankhyak (PDA) communities to the upper house of Parliament.  

In a post on X, Rajbahar further warned the SP not to lose the second seat in pursuit of aiming to win the third seat.  

"Akhilesh ji, I've heard you're going to field three candidates for the Rajya Sabha. Tell me, will all three be from your "PDA" or not? The first one is Professor Sahab. He's from your PDA "P" for family. Now, who will it be for "D" and "A"? Will there be some "wealthy" person for D? A "criminal" for A? Do tell, because all the backward class folks, Dalit brothers, and Muslim brothers want to know how you're scheming to send family, the wealthy, and criminals from your PDA to the upper house of Parliament. Finally, one more piece of advice. Don't lose the second seat in the pursuit of three. Jai Bharat, Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Krishna, Jai Maharaja Suhaldev," said Rajbahar.  

Earlier, on September 22, the Election Commission of India announced that polling for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, comprising 10 in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, will be held on October 16. Additionally, a by-election for a single seat will take place in West Bengal. The terms of the sitting members holding the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand seats are set to expire on November 25.  

Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that votes of his party supporters were deliberately deleted during the 2022 elections and claimed that such malpractice had been continuing over the years.Addressing a press conference, Yadav said that the party had not paid enough attention in 2017 and had trusted the Election Commission to remain impartial and protect its credibility. 

"We didn't pay enough attention in 2017. We trusted and believed that the Election Commission would be impartial and would not compromise its credibility," Yadav said. 

He recalled that after the 2022 results, he had stated at the SP's national convention that the Election Commission and officials had colluded to deliberately delete votes of the Samajwadi Party. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a definitive majority, winning 255 out of 403 seats individually and retaining power under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. 

“When the results came out in 2022, I remember stating at our national convention that the Election Commission and officials had colluded to deliberately delete the votes of the Samajwadi Party. Those who had voted in 2019 were denied the opportunity to vote in 2022 without notice and without adherence to any rules or laws, and the result was that a Samajwadi government was not formed in 2022...this malpractice has been going on all along; the only difference now is that it has been exposed,” he added.