After the Rashtriya Lok Dal,the Samajwadi Party has decided to support the Congress in the Rajya Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh,paving the way for smooth election of Gandhi family loyalist Satish Sharma. SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav,who is party chief Mulayam Singh Yadavs cousin,in fact,will accompany Sharma when he goes to the Vidhan Sabha to file his nomination papers on Wednesday. Yadav confirmed that the SP had decided to transfer its surplus votes to the Congress unconditionally. The SP has fielded only two candidates,party vice-president Rashid Masood and national spokesman Mohan Singh. For victory,a candidate needs 34 votes,but the SP has 86 MLAs,one of whom is bed-ridden. That means the SP has 18 surplus votes. It is not known what the SP would get in the bargain. State Congress leaders said that the matter was handled at the top level and they had no details. Congress sources said they had roped in the SP because they did not want to take any chances with Sharmas election. The Congress has only 20 members in the Vidhan Sabha. After counting the RLDs 10 votes,and two other MLAs who had pledged their support to the Congress,the party still needed two more votes. Another reason for the Congress discomfort was the large number of spare votes of the SP,BJP and the independents. Besides the SPs 18,there are BJPs 14 the party has 48 MLAs and BJP national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is its only candidate and nine Independents. Any potential candidate who could mobilise these votes could damage the Congress. In fact,the SP also apprehended that the large number of spare votes offered an opportunity to the ruling BSP to make mischief in the event of polling. Therefore,it was keen that the number of candidates should not exceed 11,which is the number of vacancies. In fact,in order to avoid polling,the SP is believed to have played a role in bringing around Ajit Singh to stay out of the contest and instead support Sharma,Congress sources said. SP support to the Congress should now ensure an easy victory for Sharma in the election scheduled for June 17. Yadavs presence with Sharma at the time of filing nominations is meant to send out a clear signal that the SP stands by him. The BSP,which is the largest party in the Assembly,has announced seven candidates. Together,the number of candidates so far announced adds up to 11. If there are no more candidates,there would be no polling and the candidates would be declared elected without contest on June 10.
