BJP MLAs will cross vote in SP's favour: Ram Gopal Yadav

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Friday said there would be no cross voting from their party, but expressed confidence that some BJP MLAs would vote for the SP in the ongoing Rajya Sabha polls.

Talking to ANI, Yadav said the SP might not, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders would surely cross-vote in SP's favour.

"There will be no cross-voting, but yes BJP MLAs will cross-vote in our favour," Yadav said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also expressed confidence of winning all the nine Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh.

"BJP will win all the nine Rajya Sabha seats where we have fielded our candidates. Nine more BJP candidates will make entry to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh this time," Maurya said.

The voting for Rajya Sabha seats in all the six states has begun.

For the 58 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states have been unanimously elected. Voting for the remaining 25 seats is being held in six states: Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.

The Rajya Sabha vacancies next month include 17 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 12 from the Congress.

Three nominated members - actress Rekha, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, and social worker Anu Aga -- will retire in April.

The BJP has filed 18 candidates for the biennial polls. They include Anil Baluni, the national head of the BJP's media wing, from Uttarakhand and Saroj Pandey, BJP general secretary, from Chhattisgarh.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda has filed nomination papers as the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar.

The BJP has also fielded Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot from Madhya Pradesh for another Rajya Sabha term.

Counting of votes will begin from 5 pm onwards on Friday. Results are expected to will be announced the same evening.

--ANI

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