Lucknow, May 29 (IANS): Brushing aside all speculation, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has decided to vote in favour of the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) bypolls, being held on Monday.

RLD national spokesman Anil Dubey said, "A decision to vote in favour of the two SP candidates has been taken by the party."

"Both the SP candidates -- Sriram Jatan Rajbhar and Ram Karan -- were also present in the meeting," he added.

The RLD is an ally of the SP. However, reports about a rift in the alliance have been doing rounds since the recent civic polls.

The members of the UP legislative Assembly (MLAs) will vote to elect two new members of the Upper House (Vidhan Parishad) on Monday.

The RLD has nine members in the Vidhan Sabha.

One vacancy in the Vidhan Parishad was caused due to the death of Banwari Lal whose tenure as an MLC was to end on July 26, 2028. Lal died on February 15 this year.

Another vacancy occurred after Laxman Prasad Acharya resigned on February 15 after his appointment as Sikkim governor. His tenure was till January 30, 2027.