Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has decided to choose ally Jayant Chaudhary over his wife Dimple Yadav as the party's candidate for Rajya Sabha.
Jayant Chaudhary "will be the joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)," the Samajwadi Party said in a tweet.
After reports yesterday that Dimple Yadav, a former Samajwadi Party MP, had snagged the party's third and last Rajya Sabha slot, Jayant Chaudhary was believed have been upset.
Former Congress leader Kapil Sibal and Javed Ali Khan are the other two candidates that the Samajwadi Party is backing.
Sources say Akhilesh Yadav called his RLD ally this morning to inform him that he was the party's final choice for Rajya Sabha.
On Tuesday, Jayant Chaudhary had reportedly been given the message that he was out of the running. Akhilesh Yadav reportedly decided to mollify him and finalise his name. The Samajwadi Party tied up with the RLD before the February-March Uttar Pradesh election. The alliance finished second, with the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP scoring a record second straight term.
Sources say Mr Yadav had promised to send Jayant Chaudhary to the Rajya Sabha but they had a disagreement. Mr Yadav wanted him in the upper house under the Samajwadi Party's banner, but Mr Chaudhary had insisted on going as his own party RLD's candidate with support from the Samajwadi Party.
The Rajya Sabha elections next month will include 11 Uttar Pradesh seats. The Samajwadi Party has 111 MLAs in the 403-member UP assembly and can send three members to the upper house of parliament. The BJP has 255 members and can send eight members to Rajya Sabha.
The election for 57 Rajya Sabha seats across 15 states will be held on June 10.
Uttar Pradesh sends 31 MPs to the upper house; 11 of them are set to retire on July 4. These include five BJP members, three from the Samajwadi Party, two from Mayawati's BSP and one from the Congress.
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