LUCKNOW: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday fielded nine candidates for the MLC in Uttar Pradesh, including seven ministers for the upcoming biennial Vidhan Parishad elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The party has also fielded Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who lost in the assembly elections from Sirathu assembly seat to Samajwadi Party’s Pallavi Patel.
Besides Maurya, the BJP has fielded Panchayati Raj Minister Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, Cooperation Minister JPS Rathore, Minister of State for Backward Classes Welfare Narendra Kashyap, Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Dayashankar Mishra Dayalu, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Industrial Development Jaswant Saini and Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari.
The party has also fielded Banvarilal Dohre and Mukesh Sharma for the biennial Vidhan Parishad elections.
Maurya and Bhupendra Singh’s tenure as MLC members are getting over on July 6, while the rest are not part of any Houses in the state Assembly.
Earlier this year, the BJP came back to power for the second consecutive term in the state by winning 255 seats in the 403 member assembly. The BJP’s alliance partners also won 18 seats in the state taking the total tally of seats to 273.