UP Legislative Council polls tomorrow

Lucknow, Jun 9: As a precursor to Rajya Sabha polls on June 11, all eyes are set on tomorrow's voting for the Legislative Council seats, even as all major political parties are busy formulating strategies to ensure victory of their candidates. Keeping the suspense over which way her 12 surplus MLAs will vote in Rajya Sabha biennial polls, BSP chief Mayawati today said the results will show the voting pattern.

"Whom we have supported, whom we have not supported, everything will be clear when the results come out," she told reporters when asked which way the 12 MLAs will go. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has 80 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly and with 34 first preference votes needed for the victory of a candidate, the party can easily ensure success of its two nominees with 12 votes to spare.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has eight MLAs, has promised to transfer its votes to Samajwadi Party and Congress, UP RLD chief Munna Singh Chauhan said here. Samajwadi Party has fielded seven candidates in the polls for the Upper House of Parliament but its seventh candidate is short of nine first-preference votes for victory.

On the other hand, Congress, which has 29 MLAs, needs five more votes for victory of its candidate and former Union minister Kapil Sibal. SP has 229 MLAs, BSP 80, BJP 41 and Congress 29. The rest belong to small parties or are Independents who hold the key. Lobbying for the biennial elections gained momentum this evening with the arrival Home Minister Rajnath Singh here for a two-day visit.

BJP has fielded one candidate whose victory is certain. The nomination of social worker Preeti Mahapatra, who forced a contest by jumping in the fray as an independent, has been proposed by 16 BJP MLAs, rebel SP MLAs and some members of smaller parties and Independents.

BJP is desperate for additional votes to secure the win of its second candidate in the Legislative Council, where it has only 12 surplus votes and needs 17 additional votes. With 14 candidates trying their luck for 13 seats of the Legislative Council, cross-voting by MLAs appears to be a high probability.

PTI