LUCKNOW: After a high-decibel bipolar contest in Uttar Pradesh polls, the BJP and SP look set to cross swords for elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats which will fall vacant in the state July next. Of the 11 retiring MPs, five are be of BJP, three of SP, two of BSP and one of the Congress.
Given the strength of 403 elected members in the UP assembly, each RS candidate will be requiring at least 37 votes. With 273 MLAs, the BJP-led NDA will easily be able to elect seven members, while SP and its allies (RLD +SBSP) -- they have a total strength of 125 MLAs -- will be able to elect three candidates easily. The contest, therefore, will boil down to the 11th seat for which both SP and BJP would seek support of other parties, including Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya's Jansatta Dal Loktantrik and Congress which have two MLAs each and Mayawati's BSP which has just one lawmaker.
