The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday nominated Ramjilal Suman, Jaya Bachchan and former IAS officer Alok Ranjan as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh.

While actor-turned politician Jaya Bachchan has been nominated again for Rajya Sabha, this is the first time for Ranjan.

"Suman, Bachchan and Ranjan are SP candidates for Rajya Sabha. They will be filing nominations today," SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI.

The SP, by way of its increased strength in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, from 47 in 2017 to 108 at present, is now in a position to send three members.

The party has 108 MLAs and the INDIA bloc partner Congress has two MLAs.

A candidate needs 37 first preference votes to secure a seat in the Rajya Sabha and therefore, the SP would be able to send 3 members to the Rajya Sabha.

Asked about the choice of the candidates fielded for the Rajya Sabha elections, SP MLA Manoj Pandey told reporters in Lucknow, said that Ramjilal Suman belongs to the PDA (Picchde, Dalit, Alpasankhyak), while Jaya Bachhan hails from a famous family of the country.

Elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states are scheduled to be held on February 27, and the last date for filing nominations is February 15.

The polling will be held on February 27 and the results will be announced on the same day.

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