Lucknow, April 16: Ten candidates of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one member of their ally Apna Dal on Monday filed their nominations for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls, scheduled for April 26.

The BJP has named Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Mahendra Singh, Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Mohsin Raza, Sarojini Agarwal, Ashok Kataria, Yashwant Singh, Ashok Dhawan, Jaiveer Singh and Buqqal Nawaab as its candidates for elections to the upper House of the state assembly.

One seat has been given to Ashish Singh, president of Apna Dal.

Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath drove to the party headquarters and greeted the candidates. BJP state unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey also wished them success.

While two candidates of the party are ministers in the state government and five others party office-bearers, the BJP has also given tickets to Jaiveer Singh who was formerly with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and to Sarojini Agarwal and Buqqal Nawab, formerly Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders.

Voting for the 13 seats of the 100-member upper House will be held on April 26.

The SP has named its state unit chief Naresh Uttam for the polls while the BSP has fielded B.R. Ambedkar, who unsuccessfully contested the Rajya Sabha biennial polls last month. The SP has assured the BSP candidate of its surplus votes.

The tenure of 12 MLCs, including former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is coming to an end on May 5. One seat is vacant because of the resignation of former minister Ambika Chowdhary, who joined the BSP from the SP ahead of the state assembly polls in 2017.

Of the 100 seats in the Council, there are 38 seats for which MLAs cast their votes and for 36 more, nominations are made through the local bodies.

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Raipur (PTI): Amid reports of shortage of commercial LPG cylinder in several parts of the country due to the US-Israel-Iran conflict, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday assured people that they need not worry about the availability of cooking gas in the state.

He asserted that adequate stock of LPG as well as petrol and diesel was available in the state.

Sai said in a statement that authorities have been directed to regularly monitor stock at gas agencies and keep a close watch on the supply chain. Necessary instructions were issued to officials in all districts to ensure a smooth supply of LPG.

The chief minister instructed officials to take strict action if any complaint of black marketing or hoarding of LPG cylinders is received.

Sai urged state residents not to pay attention to rumours and to book cooking gas cylinders as per their actual requirement.

The government was fully alert to ensure the availability of essential commodities to citizens, he emphasised.

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Hotel and Restaurant Association has issued an advisory to hotels, restaurants, caterers and other food businesses across the state, urging them to maintain calm and avoid panic buying.

In the advisory, Taranjeet Singh Hora, president of the association, asked members to maintain coordination and immediately inform it about any major disruption in LPG supply.

He cautioned businesses against hoarding cylinders, saying such practices could worsen the situation for the entire hospitality sector.

The association advised hotels and restaurants to prioritise essential kitchen operations, core menu items and already committed banquet events.

Use electric cooking equipment wherever possible for emergency and staff kitchens such as induction cooktops, electric hot plates, electric rice cookers and kettles, the advisory stated.