SP decides not a field a third candidate for the Rajya Sabha election

The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) decided not to field a third candidate for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election, paving the way for all 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh to be filled without a contest.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the SP engaged in political slugfest over the development, with the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ridiculing the Opposition party, while the SP hit back to say the real target was the Assembly election in early 2027.

“Now our focus is not on three (Rajya Sabha nominations), but on 403 (the number of seats in the U.P. Assembly),” Mr. Yadav said on social media platform X, with the party deciding to focus its energy on the forthcoming Assembly election, having analysed the current political situation. The SP national president’s post made it clear that the party was preparing to contest all Assembly seats.

“Our national president made it clear again and again that the number of seats was not the issue but the winnability of candidates with the objective of forming the government in 2027 by defeating the BJP,” senior SP leader Sudhir Panwar said.

The SP was not going to boycott the Assembly election due to the controversies surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Mr. Panwar said, adding, “People will throw out both the BJP and the Chief Election Commissioner in the near future.”  

The SP has nominated senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav and industrialist Dhanraj Nathwani as its candidates in the Rajya Sabha election.

Earlier last week, Mr. Yadav had indicated the party would contest three seats. The SP has eight fewer MLAs than it needs to have a third member elected.

U.P. Minister of Panchayati Raj Om Prakash Rajbhar targeted the SP on social media platform X. “My friend Akhilesh, it’s all done, just snap. Well, sometimes, even if it’s just a matter of time, you still do something sensible. Like you did today. As far as 403 is concerned, I would just say that dreaming is not a bad thing,” Mr. Maurya said. 

U.P. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed the SP would struggle to secure more than 50 seats in the upcoming election. “The BJP is going to win 11 Legislative Council and eight Rajya Sabha seats. Akhilesh Yadav is talking about 403, but he used to be exhausted even after winning 100 seats. You have seen his condition in 2022. Will his bicycle chain be able to score a half-century this time or not…,” Mr. Maurya said. 

All eight BJP candidates for the Rajya Sabha election filed their nomination papers on Tuesday (October 6). On the last day for filing nominations, BJP candidates Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, and Shruti Gangwar filed their nominations at Vidhan Bhawan.

In the BJP’s picks for the Rajya Sabha, the party has focused on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Brahmins, with three and two candidates from these social segments, respectively. Prominent among them are Mr. Dharampal Singh, a Cabinet Minister in the State government who hails from Lodhi (OBC) caste; Ms. Gangwar, who comes from the Kurmi (OBC) community from the Rohilkhand region; and Mr. Pal, State president of the BJP Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Morcha. Among the Brahmin picks are Mr. Ojha, a former president of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association, and Mr. Pandey, senior party functionary. Among the two Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates given a ticket by the party are Mr. Sonkar from the Khatik community, and Ms. Rawat from the Pasi community.

U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath, along with Union Minister of State for Finance and BJP State President Pankaj Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Mr. Maurya, and other Ministers, were present at the event.