As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh won eight seats in Rajya Sabha polls while the Samajwadi Party managed to secure victories on two seats, State BJP MLC Mohsin Raza said that "Ye 8 nahi, 80 ki tayyari hai".
The eight BJP candidates who secured victories are former Union Minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Sangeeta Balwant , BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, Naveen Jain and Sanjay Seth.
Jaya Bachchan and Ramji Lal Suman of Samajwadi Party also registered victories. Alok Ranjan, the third candidate fielded by the Samajwadi Party, suffered defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Hailing the outcome of the Rajya Sabha polls, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the impact of these results will continue to produce a positive impact on the party prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and also in the next State Assembly elections.
"We had been saying from the beginning that all 8 candidates of the BJP will win. All our 8 candidates have won today. I congratulate all the winning candidates. Two SP candidates have also won. So, congratulations to Akhilesh Yadav too. BJP's vijay yatra that began in Rajya Sabha will continue in Lok Sabha and then go on till Vidhan Sabha elections and even further," Deputy Chief Minister told ANI.
BJP leaders and workers raised slogans and celebrated in Lucknow.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh BJP MLC Mohsin Raza said that this is not just a victory on 8 seats but an indication of the party's preparations for the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the Uttar Pradesh.
"We knew that this would be the result. BJP was confident that we would win all 8 seats. I don't understand why the Opposition was dejected because they did not have to win. Ye 8 nahi, 80 ki tayyari hai (Not eight, but our preparations on 80 seats). We are going to win 80 after this. We will win 400 in the Lok Sabha elections," Mohsin Raza told ANI.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also felicitated all its eight BJP candidates who won the Rajya Sabha elections.
Responding to the allegations by Samajwadi Party leaders that "BJP is influencing other party leaders to cross-vote", Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party does not influence any leader to leave their party adding that if anyone is involved in cross-voting then there might be a change of heart.
The remarks came after five Samajwadi Party MLAs met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after casting their vote for the Rajya Sabha election, there was speculation of them having cross-voted in favour of the BJP.
Speaking to ANI, Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "BJP does not influence anybody to change their party. If there is a change of heart, voting is done accordingly. I welcome that as well. BJP had the numbers already. People have voted in favour of BJP candidates for 'Viksit Bharat'"
Samajwadi Party MLAs: Abhay Singh, Rakesh Singh, Rakesh Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, and Manoj Pandey met CM Yogi Adityanath in the Assembly Secretariat today.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said that disciplinary action would be taken against the MLAs if they had cross voted.
"Not everybody has the guts to stand against the government. Pressure is put on everybody, is there anyone who doesn't know that BJP would go to any extent to win. BJP was dishonest during the Chandigarh elections also... When it comes to UP, BJP did everything to get votes and those who left, might not have had the guts to stand against the govt. Action will be taken because our party leaders want such people to be kept away from the party," said Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.
The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years, and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country, the outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state.