Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council by-election Bahoran Lal Maurya on Tuesday filed his nomination papers in the presence of states top BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Cabinet colleagues. Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations for the Legislative Council. The BJP had announced Maurya as its candidate for the Legislative Council elections on Monday. The tenure of this seat ends in July 2028. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed confidence that Maurya would win the by-election and effectively address the issues of the common people in the Legislative Council. In addition to Yogi, other prominent attendees included BJP state president Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, and ministers Suresh Khanna, Swatantra Dev Singh, JPS Rathore, Kapil Dev Aggarwal, and Baldev Singh Aulakh. Maurya is likely to be declared elected unopposed on Wednesday, the day of scrutiny of nomination papers, as the Samajwadi Party has decided against fielding its candidate. Maurya was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly from Bhojipura constituency in Bareilly district twice in 1996 and 2017. In the 2022 Legislative Assembly elections, he lost to Shazil Islam of the SP by a margin of over 9,400 votes. The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of SP MLC Swami Prasad Maurya in February earlier this year. Swami Prasad Maurya left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and unsuccessfully contested from Fazilnagar, Kushinagar district. Later, the SP made Swami Prasad Maurya a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. However, there was opposition within the party over his tirade against Ramcharitmanas, Lord Ram and Sanatan Dharma, after which he broke ties with the SP and formed the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party. The notification for the Legislative Council bypoll was issued on June 25, and July 2 is the last day of making nominations, while scrutiny will be held on July 3. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is July 5.

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