Race for Rajya Sabha: How numbers stack up

Lucknow: With hectic politicking underway ahead of the June 10-11 MLC and Rajya Sabha polls, parties are busy are burning the proverbial midnight oil to ensure their nominees have the numbers to sail through to the Council and the House of Elders.
After the initial disruption caused by the last minute entry of BJP-backed independent candidate Preeti Mahapatra, opposition parties the SP, BSP and Congress appeared to have settled down to some extent as polling dates drew nearer.On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav met with his MLAs to take stock of the final numbers.
The party has 229 MLAs in the UP assembly and needs about 10 additional votes to ensure the victory of its 7th RS nominee. With Ajit Singh's RLD -- 8 MLAs -- and Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal, with its 2 MLAs, pledging support to the SP and Congress, MSY appears to have got his numbers more or less in order by Wednesday night. The SP chief and CM Akhilesh Yadav have also reached out to independent MLA Rahuraj Pratap Singh and other alleged dissentors within the party to prevent any chance of a split before the vote.
Sources in the party said two MLAs from the BJP were also rumoured to have supported SP, which, if true, only helps MSY's candidates further. The Congress camp, which also seemed short of 6 additional votes for its RS nominee Kapil Sibal projected confidence, claiming it would get additional support from RLD, along with at least a few other political outfits. The Congress, with 29 MLAs in the house of 403, will need at least 6-7 extra votes to ensure the victory of its party nominee Kapil Sibal. With the legal eagle having represented almost all party leaders at some point, sources said personal equations, more than the party positions, may see him through in the RS race.
The BSP, on the other hand, with 12 additional votes, is expected to decide who to vote in favour of, on Thursday. party chief Mayawati, who has been camping in Lucknow for over a week now, is scheduled to meet with her MLAs and decide the party's future couse of action.
While no confirmation was forthcoming from the BSP camp, sources told TOI, Mayawati, with 12 votes to spare, may veer towards the Congress, and especially Sibal.