SP's Ram Gopal Yadav files nomination for RS polls

Lucknow, Oct 21 Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections slated for November 9.

He is a sitting Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, though his term is slated to expire on November 25.

"I thank the party leadership for making me its Rajya Sabha candidate for the fifth time. The people of the country and the state are unhappy. But I do not want to say anything on this issue today," Yadav told the media here.

Yadav was accompanied by Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, who made his first public outing after the coronavirus pandemic outbreak in the country.

Ram Gopal Yadav was declared SP candidate a week ago.

The Samajwadi Party, which has an effective strength of 45 MLAs in Uttar Pradesh Assembly with 403 members, can send only one member to the Upper House of Parliament.

Elections will be held for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand on November 9. The BJP can comfortably win nine UP seats, but is yet to announce its candidates.

The Rajya Sabha members due to retire on November 25 are Chandrapal Singh Yadav, Javed Ali, Ravi Prakash Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav (all from Samajwadi Party), Veer Singh and Rajaram (Bahujan Samaj Party), Raj Babbar and PL Punia (both from Congress), and Neeraj Shekhar, Hardeep Singh Puri, and Arun Singh (all from BJP). Raj Babbar was elected from Uttarakhand whereas the rest represented Uttar Pradesh in the Upper House.

( With inputs from IANS )