Lucknow: In a surprise move, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday named former Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate in the biennial election for 10 seats of the upper house despite being short of the required numbers of members in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Seth submitted his nomination on the last day of filing in the presence of BJP UP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Ministers Jitin Prasada, Daya Shanker Singh, Ashish Patel, and Sanjay Nishad along with other party leaders.

In a formal announcement, the BJP's state president said that the central unit has declared former RS member Sanjay Seth as the eighth candidate of the party.

"Our seven candidates have already filed their nominations. We have adequate support in the state legislature.

"I have confidence that the party will send all its candidates to Rajya Sabha in the biennial election. We have two-thirds majority in the assembly, and a large number of people are impressed with the policies of Modi and Yogi government along with the Vikas Yatra of the country. I am confident that we will win all the eight seats by a huge margin."

It may be noted that seven BJP candidates, including the party's national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, RPN Singh, Sangeeta Balwant, Sadhna Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Tejveer Singh, and Naveen Jain, submitted their nomination papers in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Lok Sabha election in-charge Baijayant Panda on Wednesday.

Sources said that for victory, every candidate requires the votes of 37 MLAs. With 252 MLAs of its own and the support of the members of its allies, including Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the BJP is still short of 10 votes.

Even if two MLAs of Raghuraj Pratap Singh 'Raja Bhaiya' support BJP candidates, the party will need 8 extra votes.

In the house of 403 members, four seats are vacant due to the demise of the sitting MLAs.

It may be mentioned that the main opposition party, the Samajwadi Party, which is also facing a number crisis, has also fielded three candidates, including sitting RS member Jaya Bachchan, former bureaucrat Alok Ranjan, and ex-Union Minister Ramji Lal Suman.

With 11 candidates in the fray, polling is likely to be held on February 27.

(With UNI inputs)