Amidst the election process for 10 Rajya Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party has cleared the names of its two candidates. Senior party leader Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, associated with Reliance Industries, filed nominations in the presence of party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday. With this, the situation of SP on two seats has become clear, but suspense still remains regarding the third candidate. Now the biggest question is whether SP will field Salim Iqbal Sherwani for the third seat or will it trust former Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan? Both the names have been coming up prominently in the ongoing discussions within the party for the last several days.
SP on Wednesday Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani were declared official candidates. Both also filed nominations. Dhanraj Nathwani is associated with the Reliance Group and his father Parimal Nathwani is a Rajya Sabha MP. Making him a candidate from SP is being seen as a different step in the party's strategy. Now the name of the third candidate is yet to be announced. Many names were discussed within the party regarding this seat but the names of Salim Iqbal Sherwani and Alok Ranjan have been discussed the most. In earlier discussions, it had come to light regarding Alok Ranjan that the party had also talked about fulfilling the promise made to him.
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Salim Sherwani himself expressed his claim
Salim Iqbal Sherwani has met Akhilesh Yadav and expressed his desire to contest Rajya Sabha elections. After the meeting, Sherwani had said that he had expressed his wish to the party president and was told that the names of the candidates would be announced later. Sherwani has been a five-time Lok Sabha MP from Badaun and has also been a minister in the central government. His old demands regarding Muslim representation in Rajya Sabha have also been in discussion. In the year 2024, he resigned from the post of National General Secretary of SP, although he later withdrew his resignation. Now his name is again in discussion for Rajya Sabha ticket.
Alok Ranjan is also a contender
On the other hand, the name of former Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan also remains among the possible candidates of SP. He has been an advisor to former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav during his tenure and has been associated with the party's policies and election strategy. In the year 2024 also, SP had made him a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, although he could not win the election. In such a situation, the party's decision on the third seat has now become very important. Salim Sherwani's name is in discussion as the old and minority face of the party, while Alok Ranjan's name has come up because of his organisation, administrative experience and as a strategist close to Akhilesh. However, the final decision has to be taken by the SP leadership only.
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Additional support will have to be gathered for the third seat
Voting for 10 Rajya Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh is to be held on October 16. Based on the current assembly strength, 37 first preference votes will be required for the election of a Rajya Sabha member. After the situation on two seats becomes relatively clear, the challenge for SP will be to garner additional support for the third candidate. The third name has not been formally announced by the party yet. In such a situation, after the nomination of Ram Gopal Yadav and Dhanraj Nathwani, now the biggest suspense in SP politics rests on the name of the third Rajya Sabha candidate, Salim Sherwani or Alok Ranjan? Discussions regarding both the names are likely to continue until the decision is taken.