UP Council bypolls: CM Yogi Adityanath, two deputy CMs, two ministers file nomination papers

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his two deputies on Tuesday filed their nomination papers for the bypolls to the vacant legislative council seats.

Two ministers, Mohsin Raza and Swatantradev Singh, too filed their nomination papers.

Adityanath and deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma filed their nomination papers in the presence of their Cabinet colleagues and senior party leaders, including newly-appointed BJP state unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey.

According to the Election Commission, scrutiny would be done tomorrow, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is September 8. Polling would be held on September 15 and the counting of votes would be done the same day.

Adityanath, who took over as the chief minister on March 19, had to become a legislator within six months of assuming office and that deadline expired on September 19.

Similarly, Maurya, Sharma, Raza and Singh were not members of either of the two Houses of the state legislature.

All of them had to get elected to either the Assembly or the Legislative Council before September 19 in order to continue as ministers.

Adityanath and Maurya are presently members of the Lok Sabha.

Adityanath would become the third successive chief minister after Akhilesh Yadav (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) to opt for the Upper House.

The four seats for which bypolls would be held on September 15 were vacated by MLCs Bukkal Nawab, Yashwant, Sarojini Agarwal and Ashok Bajpai who are all from the Samajwadi Party.

Another seat fell vacant when Thakur Jaiveer Singh, a former BSP MLC, resigned from the party and joined the BJP.