BJP candidate Zafar Islam set to win Rajya Sabha bypoll
Zafar Islam would add to BJP’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha at the cost of the Samajwadi Party whose MP Amar Singh’s demise in Singapore on August 1 necessitated the bypoll
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) UP unit general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla withdrew his candidature for by-elections to the lone Rajya Sabha (RS) seat from the state on Thursday, thereby clearing the way for the party’s original nominee Syed Zafar Islam to be elected to contest unopposed on Friday.
Friday is the last date for the withdrawal of nominations and now with just Zafar left in the fray, the RS election process will not be stretched till September 11—the bypoll date—as the RS bypoll has now been reduced to a no-contest.
Zafar Islam would add to BJP’s numbers in the RS at the cost of Samajwadi Party whose MP Amar Singh’s demise in Singapore on August 1 necessitated the RS bypoll. After being elected, Zafar Islam would serve the remainder of Amar Singh’s term till July 4, 2022.
On Tuesday, Shukla had filed his papers and, soon after, an independent candidate Mahesh Chandra Sharma filed his papers as well.
Sharma’s nomination was rejected the next day itself as he didn’t have the backing of 10 MLAs as required under the election rules while Shukla— who had filed the nomination to cover up for any technical glitches in Zafar’s nomination—withdrew on Thursday.
“Yes, Govind ji has withdrawn his candidature and now the BJP candidate Zafar Islam is the lone candidate in the fray,” confirmed BJP general secretary JPS Rathore, who is expected to collect the certificate confirming Zafar’s election as RS MP from returning officer Brij Bhushan Dubey after 3 pm on Friday—the deadline set for withdrawal of nominations.
Parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna who had filed the nominations on Saturday on behalf of Zafar, who was ill and admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is also expected to accompany Rathore.
Zafar who had taken oath from AIIMS at the time of filing of nomination—it is a mandatory requirement for all RS candidates to take oath before the returning officer—has now been discharged. However, party leaders said he may not be able to make it to Lucknow on Friday.
