This Article is From Jan 23, 2015

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Elections Today Amidst Fears of Cross Voting

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Elections Today Amidst Fears of Cross Voting

File photo: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav with Samajvadi Party chief Mulayam SIngh Yadav. (Press Trust of India)

Lucknow: The crucial election for 12 seats of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council or Upper House is taking place today amidst fears of cross voting.

What has made this election different from the others is that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the BJP have fielded an extra candidate despite not having the numbers.

The state Assembly has 403 members and first preference votes of 31 MLAs would be needed to ensure victory of one candidate for the Upper House.

Though the ruling Samajwadi Party with 230 MLAs is expected to win the elections, the party is trying to keep its flock together. The SP hosted a lunch for its lawmakers two days ago, where they were asked to remain present during voting and ensure victory of all the eight party candidates, party sources said.

The SP has fielded an additional candidate keeping in mind the 13 surplus votes. With support of 28 Congress MLAs, SP hopes its nominee for the additional seat will emerge victorious.

The BSP, with 80 lawmakers, has fielded three candidates and has the support of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal but are still five votes short.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari, meanwhile, charged the BJP of trying to buy support from MLAs of other parties. "If they have fielded an extra candidate then BJP has begun horse-trading and we condemn this," he said.

The BJP says they are confident of a victory but deny charges of buying support. "Who is buying support? There is no horse-trading, conscience is an important thing," said Laxmikant Bajpai, Uttar Pradesh BJP president.
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