BJP names seven candidates for UP legislative council

The BJP on Saturday released a list of seven candidates for the coming biennial elections to the Uttar Pradesh legislative council, repeating three candidates, including senior leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak, whose term is coming to an end in May. Vijay Bahadur Pathak is vice president of the state unit of the BJP.

The list released by national general secretary Arun Singh includes the names of former ministers Mahendra Kumar Singh and Ashok Katariya who will also seek re-election.

The four new faces are state vice president Santosh Singh, president of the western region of the party Mohit Beniwal, former mayor of Jhansi Ram Tirath Singhal and co-media incharge of UP Dharmendra Singh.


There has been an attempt to strike a caste and regional balance through the selection of candidates for the legislative council, especially in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections, party insiders said.

The term of 13 members of the legislative council is coming to an end in May this year. It is believed that the party has left three seats for its allies and Rashtriya Lok Dal has already announced its candidate.

According to the notification, nominations will continue till March 11 and the last date for withdrawal of names is March 14. Voting, if required, will take place on March 21.

The counting of votes will take place after 5 pm on the same day.