UP CM Yogi Adityanath, his deputies in fray for Vidhan Parishad by-polls

NEW DELHI: BJP has declared Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma as its candidates for the by-elections to the state’s Vidhan Parishad.

Two UP ministers Swatantra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza—the only Muslim face in the Yogi cabinet will also contest these elections to the Upper House of the state. The five leaders took oath of office on March 19 after BJP’s landslide victory in the assembly elections. Yogi and Maurya are Lok Sabha MPs from Gorakhpur and Phulpur respectively.

Dinesh Sharma was mayor of Lucknow before becoming deputy CM. Two SP MLAs Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh and one BSP MLC- Jaiveer Singh had resigned from Vidhan Parishad.