Lucknow: The political temperature in Uttar Pradesh is steadily rising as the Samajwadi Party (SP) keeps the suspense alive regarding its third candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. While the party has officially announced two candidates—Prof. Ramgopal Yadav and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani—who successfully filed their nomination papers on Wednesday, all eyes remain fixed on SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for the final name.
Despite the initial nominations being completed, Akhilesh Yadav has refrained from revealing his cards. However, SP legislators continue to express robust confidence in securing a third seat. Going a step further, SP MLA Ashu Malik boldly claimed that the party is in a position to win even a fourth seat if they choose to contest.
“If there is a fourth seat, we will win that too. We have a lot of MLAs, and there is tremendous panic within the Bharatiya Janata Party. The third candidate will be announced by Akhilesh Yadav soon,” Malik stated to the media.
Within the party headquarters, intense brainstorming is underway. Currently, three primary options are circulating in political corridors. The first is former Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan, who was fielded by the party during the 2024 Rajya Sabha polls but lost amid cross-voting controversies. Ranjan remains a strong contender due to his reputation as a close administrative and policy strategist for the SP chief.
The second prominent name is former Member of Parliament Salim Iqbal Sherwani. Having recently met with Akhilesh Yadav to express his desire to contest, Sherwani is the top choice if the party decides to field a prominent Muslim face. The third option aligns with the party’s core PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) social engineering formula, which involves giving the ticket to a strong Dalit leader to send a widespread political message.
When questioned about the third candidate, Prof. Ramgopal Yadav maintained the official party line, stating that only the party president holds the authority to make the announcement. Meanwhile, SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary asserted that several BJP legislators are discontented with their leadership, hinting at potential cross-voting in favour of the SP.
According to the current electoral arithmetic, a candidate requires 37 first-preference votes to secure a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh. Based on its current assembly strength, the Samajwadi Party comfortably holds enough numbers to elect two members. However, securing a third seat will require the party to muster additional support from outside its immediate ranks. Simultaneously, the ruling BJP and its allies are also actively exploring extra votes to ensure victory for their eighth candidate, setting the stage for a fiercely contested electoral battle.