BJP’s surprise RS pick in UP, Sanjay Seth: Realty tycoon, ex-aide of Mulayam, Akhilesh

Setting the stage for a potentially dramatic contest in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Thursday fielded party leader Sanjay Seth in the fray as its eighth candidate.

UP is slated to send 10 MPs to the Upper House in the elections scheduled for February 27. As the numbers stand now, the ruling BJP and the principal Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), appear to have enough members in the state Assembly to elect their seven and three Rajya Sabha MPs, respectively. The number of votes required for each candidate is 37, as per the system of proportional representation followed in the RS polls.

However, by nominating Seth as its eighth candidate, the BJP has upped the ante and forced an election, even though it falls short of eight votes to push his nomination through. This opens up the possibility of cross-voting.

What makes the face-off interesting besides putting the SP on the back foot is Seth’s past relations with the SP led by Akhilesh Yadav. Seth had served as the SP MP in the Upper House between 2016 and 2019.

He resigned from the SP on August 6, 2019, three months before his Rajya Sabha tenure ended, and went on to join the BJP days later.

Seth is also considered one of the leading real-estate developers in Lucknow. He set up his company, SAS Hotels and Properties Private Limited, in 1985. It was later renamed the Shalimar Corporation.

During the tenure of the Mayawati-led BSP government between 2007-12, Seth’s company took on major projects such as the Dr BR Ambedkar Gomti Vihar Park (Part-1 and Part- 2), a multi-level parking space in Hazratganj and another parking lot in Vridawan colony near the Rae Bareli Road. The company’s project, the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in