UP: Former bureaucrat among 10 BJP candidates for MLC polls

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied the BJP candidates as they submitted their papers. Senior government ministers and party functionaries were also present. The 10 candidates are Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, former bureaucrat Arvind Kumar Sharma, BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh, and senior leaders Laxman Prasad Acharya, Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Govind Narayan Shukla, Salil Bishnoi, Ashwani Tyagi, Dharamveer Prajapati and Surendra Chaudhary.

Sharma is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He joined the BJP last week after taking voluntary retirement from government service. According to sources in the party, he has been chosen for a big role in the government.

The independent who filed his documents on Monday is Mahesh Chandra Sharma, whose nomination papers in previous MLC polls were rejected on various grounds. But if they are accepted this time during the scrutiny on Tuesday, it will lead to elections for all 12 seats as the Samajwadi Party has fielded two candidates — veteran leader Ahmed Hassan and party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary. Unlike in the past, no political party has fielded additional candidates.

The elections are necessary as the term of 12 Legislative Council members is ending on January 30.