Jaya Bachchan to be Samajwadi party's candidate for Rajya Sabha polls: Reports

NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan is set to become the Samajwadi Party nominee for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Calling Bachchan a loyal leader, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh on Wednesday said that she deserves to be the Samajwadi Party's candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

Bachchan has been chosen over Naresh Agrawal who has served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Hardoi constituency seven times.

"Naresh Aggarwal has joined many parties. He started his career in Congress. He was a member of the cabinet of Rajnath Singh. Then intermittently he was in Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and then he came in Samajwadi Party. He is widely experienced," Singh said.

"So far Jaya Bachchan is concerned, she was consistently loyal to the Samajwadi Party and to the party`s system. She has been loyal to the hierarchy of the SP. So she has proven to be a better politician than Naresh Aggarwal," he added.

Rajya Sabha elections for 10 Uttar Pradesh seats are slated to be held on March 23.

Bachchan is a three-time MP and was first elected to the Upper House by the Samajwadi Party in 2004 until March 2006. She got a second term from June 2006 and was re-elected in 2012 for the third term. Her third term comes to an end on April 3.

(With ANI inputs)