Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal who left his Gorakhpur Urban constituency for Yogi Adityanath to contest in the recent Assembly polls was nominated for the Rajya Sabha elections as the party named six candidates from Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
Mr. Aggarwal had represented Gorakhpur Urban in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly since 2002, but made way for Chief Minister Adityanath in the recent polls.
The BJP has also fielded former State unit chief Laxmikant Vajpayee and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar.
Bauburam Nishad, who is currently the chairman of the U.P. Pichhrha Varg Vitt Vikas Nigam (U.P. Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation), has also been given a ticket by the party.
The BJP gave tickets to two women -- Darshana Singh and Sangeeta Yadav -- from the State.
Ms. Singh is a former state head of the party's women wing, while Ms. Yadav is a former party MLA from Chauri Chaura Assembly constituency in Gorakhpur.
In the recently concluded assembly elections, the BJP won 255 seats, while its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad party bagged 12 and six seats respectively.
The Samajwadi Party won 111 seats while its ally, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, bagged eight. The SBSP, another ally of the Samajwadi Party, got six seats. The Congress won two seats and the BSP one.
With 273 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the ruling BJP-led NDA will easily be able to get eight members elected to the Upper House of Parliament, while the SP and its allies (RLD and SBSP), with a strength of 125 legislators, will be able to ensure the victory of three candidates.
Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to Rajya Sabha.
Among the 11 retiring MPs from the State, five are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), three from the SP, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one from the Congress.
The five retiring Rajya Sabha MPs of the BJP are Zafar Islam, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Sanjay Seth, Surendra Nagar and Jai Prakash Nishad.
The SP leaders completing their terms include former Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council chairman Sukhram Singh Yadav, whose son Mohit has joined the BJP.
Besides Sukhram Singh Yadav, the tenure of Reoti Raman Singh and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad will also end in July.
The BSP MPs whose term is coming to an end are Satish Chandra Misra and Ashok Siddharth.
The term of Kapil Sibal of the Congress is also ending in July.
According to the Election Commission of India, the last date for filing of nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls is May 31.
Scrutiny of nominations will be done on June 1, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 3.
Polling will be held on June 10, and it will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Counting will be held on June 10.
