Lucknow, Nov 14 (IANS) Buoyed by her party’s sweep in the by-elections to 11 assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has got down to preparing for the next electoral battle - to the Vidhan Parishad or upper house of the state legislature.
Elections to 36 seats of the upper house will be held next month.

Since the 36 Vidhan Parishad seats were to fall vacant in January 2010, elections to these seats were to be held latest by the end of next month. The new members are to be elected by members of local bodies.

Presently 22 of the seats are held by the Samajwadi Party, six by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two by Lok Dal, one by Congress and two by independents. Three seats are lying vacant.

With her sight set on the upper house elections, Mayawati summoned her party’s 227 legislators, including 51 ministers, for a two-day open house that commenced Friday.

According to insiders, Mayawati’s message to her party lawmakers was “to wipe out the Samajwadi Party” from the Vidhan Parishad biennial poll in the same manner as the party did in last week’s assembly by-poll.

Mayawati urged her party leaders to get down to work and also fixed responsibility of ministers and legislators for different areas.

The BSP chief told her party leaders that humbling the Samajwadi Party this time would reduce the state’s key opposition party to a minority in the upper house as well.

If the BSP is able to establish its majority in both the houses, it would be simpler for the ruling party to enact new legislations or amend existing laws without any fear of the opposition.

The closed-door meeting is being held in batches and could go on till Sunday, a party official informed.