Akhilesh is fielding the senior Reliance honcho in the Rajya Sabha poll

Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav, accompanied by party candidates Professor Ram Gopal Yadav, second left, and Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, second right, who filed their nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, in Lucknow, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, SLASAMAJH Yadav Party, left, is also seen. | Photo credit: PTI

The Samajwadi Party has announced senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav and industrialist Dhanraj Nathwani as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. While Mr Yadav, a key SP strategist and uncle of party president Akhilesh Yadav, was widely expected to do so, the choice of Mr Nathwani, group president at Reliance Industries Limited, who is considered one of the most trusted confidantes of the Ambani family, has created a stir in political and corporate circles.

Ahead of the parliamentary polls, the choice is seen as a pragmatic move as instead of pushing the PDA card, the party has gone the route of resources and relationships to challenge the ruling party and send a signal to its key ally, the Congress. Mr. Yadav personally accompanied Nathwani and Mr. Ram Gopal to file their nomination papers in Lucknow, skipping the INDIA alliance meeting in Delhi.

Mr Nathwani, who is also a director of Reliance New Energy Limited and president of the Gujarat Cricket Association, is the son of Parimal Nathwani, senior director of corporate affairs at Reliance and a veteran politician who was re-elected to his fourth term in the upper house from Jharkhand as an NDA-backed independent in June. He was supported by regional players Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and YSR Congress Party for two terms.

From Amar Singh and Anil Ambani in the Mulayam Singh Yadav era to Sanjay Seth and Surendra Nagar, party sources say the SP is sending influential corporate voices with cross-party networks to the Rajya Sabha. “Akhileshji has a track record of bringing investment to the state and after the Lok Sabha polls, the corporate world sees him as the only credible face for development in UP,” senior party leader Udaiveer Singh told The Hindu, adding that the SP stood for development and prosperity as much as equality and social justice.

Meanwhile, BJP ally Om Prakash Rajbhar mocked the selection, questioning how the status of a wealthy elite corporate executive matched Akhilesh Yadav’s highly publicized PDA formula. He mockingly wrote on X that Prof Yadav’s nomination “makes him P for Parivar” and with Mr Nathwani “D stands for Daulatmand (rich).

Given the Nathwani family’s close ties to the BJP leadership, observers say it would be difficult to criticize the candidate’s credentials, forcing the ruling alliance to call it ideological hypocrisy by the SP.

Ten Rajya Sabha seats are up for grabs in UP in the elections scheduled for October 16. Based on the current makeup and strength of the Legislative Assembly, standard calculations suggest that the BJP-led NDA is poised to secure seven seats. At the same time, SP is entitled to two. A close contest is expected for the 10th seat as the BJP is expected to have a surplus of 31 or 32 votes while the SP is expected to have a surplus of about 29 votes. Senior SP leader and five-time MP Salim Sherwani, who staked his claim and met Mr Yadav recently, told reporters that he “will not fight to lose”, hinting that he would not want to be the party’s third candidate.

Given the effective strength of the UP Diet, a candidate needs roughly 37 first preference votes to secure a seat in RS. The role of small parties and non-affiliated members will thus be key. Currently, the two MLAs from Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s Jansatta Dal Loktantrik are seen as swing votes.

Published – 30 Sep 2026 11:40 AM IST