The Bahujan Samaj Party national president and sitting member of Lok Sabha Mayawati on Monday filed nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections.
Mayawati, accompanied by several party legislators, filed three sets of papers before principal secretary to Vidhan Sabha R P Pandey.
Mayawati is sitting Lok Sabha member from Akbarpur seat. Besides Mayawati, former advocate general of the Uttar Pradesh and BSP National general secretary S C Mishra also filed his papers for Rajya Sabha.
The Upper House election to fill 65 vacancies from 15 states is scheduled for June 28.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said she entered the fray on the suggestion of BSP leader Kanshi Ram.
"Kanshi Ram had suggested that I should opt for the Rajya Sabha as now I have the additional responsibility of looking after the affairs of the party at the national level," Mayawati told newspersons after filing her nomination papers.
The BSP national president, who had won the recently held Lok Sabha election from Akbarpur constituency by over 60,000 votes, said that as Kanshi Ram has not been keeping well, she had been entrusted with the responsibilty of the party.
Besides, it would not be possible for her to properly concentrate on development of her Lok Sabha constituency at the same time, she added.
Asserting that she had contested the lok sabha polls in order to deny her detractors the chance of alleging that she entered the Parliament through the back door, she said her decision to contest the
Rajya Sabha was in the interest of the bahujan samaj.
When asked to comment on the alleged deterioration in law and order situation in uttar pradesh, Mayawati said she would be speaking on the issue in a couple of days.