Naresh, Bajpai to be key factors in wooing SP rebels
LUCKNOW: After winning over Samajwadi Party (SP) heavyweight Naresh Agrawal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now eyeing the disgruntled elements in the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party for support to its ‘ninth’ candidate who will require nine extra votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
The BJP plans to get the votes for its extra candidate through Naresh Agrawal and Ashok Bajpai, people familiar with the development said. Both of them were in the Samajwadi Party earlier and are in the BJP now. Bajpai is also a BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. Agrawal and Bajpai are considered political arch rivals in Hardoi from where they hail. In fact, some BJP leaders said Naresh Agrawal joining the party in the middle of the Rajya Sabha poll process indicated that he may have his role cut out — ‘ensure the win of the BJP’s ninth candidate.’
Agrawal’s son Nitin is a lawmaker from Hardoi. “Of course, we expect him to vote for us. Nareshji has said so himself,” UP BJP leader Harish Srivastava said. That means that BJP will have to look for a vote less.
“But more important is the fact that the BSP candidate will have to look for a vote more,” a party leader said, adding that several independents too were in touch with the BJP. The party has also tasked several former BSP leaders, who are now with the BJP, to look for potential crossovers from the BSP which is banking on the support of the Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Party to ensure the victory of its candidates.
In the Rajya Sabha election in 2016, the BJP had managed the support of three Congress lawmakers while three others had voted for the BSP. After the election, the Congress had expelled six MLAs for cross- voting.
“All those lawmakers who are feeling stifled in their own parties will vote for making Modiji’s leadership stronger,” said Anil Agarwal, the BJP’s ninth candidate.
THE EFFECTIVE STRENGTH OF THE 403MEMBER UP ASSEMBLY IS NOW 402 AFTER THE DEATH OF A BJP MEMBER IN AN ACCIDENT LAST MONTH.
The role of the Shivpal Yadav faction in the Akhilesh Yadav-led-SP will also come into play, a BJP leader said, adding that it’s here that “Naresh Agrawal will come in handy.”
The BJP leaders said Shivpal Yadav had publicly conceded that he, along with several other SP MLAs, had voted for the NDA nominee in the presidential election in July. So far, Shivpal Yadav hasn’t revealed his mind.
“It’s perfectly reasonable for the BJP to feel that he could be useful. Naresh Agrawal and Ashok Bajpai will surely support this. Now, the pressure will be on the united opposition as the BJP has everything to gain,” political analyst SK Dwivedi said.
However, even if the BJP does manage to ensure the win of its extra ‘ninth’ candidate, how does that explain the party fielding 11?
“That might have been done as cover in case some of the three nominations gets rejected on technical grounds. If not, the party, having confused the opposition, will now have the time to decide which of the two candidates it needs to withdraw,” a party leader said.