BJP, SP MLAs quit in season of shifting loyalties

PRAYAGRAJ: Politicians are either busy shifting loyalties or resigning from their parties in Prayagraj. BJP’s sitting MLA from Bara assembly constituency Ajay Kumar became the latest addition to this growing list as he resigned from the party’s primary membership on Wednesday.

The resignation follows amid reports that the BJP has given Bara seat to its ally Apna Dal (S) as part of the pre-poll pact.

Likewise, Samajwadi Party leader and two-time MLA from Koraon Ram Kripal left SP and rejoined Congress after SP fielded Ramdev ‘Nidar’ as its candidate from Koraon reserved seat.

Ajay Kumar claimed that the BJP kept him in dark till the last moment. He also said he was not joining any other political party immediately.

Vachaspati, the two-term MLA from Sirathu who recently quit SP and joined Apna Dal (S) could contest from the Bara seat on Apna Dal (S) symbol.

Vachaspati was elected MLA for the first time in 2007 on BSP ticket. After this, in the by-election held in Sirathu in 2014, he had won as a Samajwadi Party candidate.

Meanwhile, two-time MLA from Koraon Ram Kripal has left SP and rejoined Congress in a brief ceremony held on Tuesday evening and attended by Congress city unit president Pradeep Mishra and other Congress leaders including Javed Urfi, Nishant Rastogi, Shahshank Sharma among others. Ram Kripal was as a CPI(M) candidate had contested and won from Koraon in 1996 and 2002. In 2012 he joined the Congress but around 10 months back joined the SP. But after failing to get SP ticket from Koraon, he rejoined Congress.

Likewise, citing differences in ideology, former MP from Phulpur Nagendra Patel resigned from SP and joined Apna Dal (S) on Wednesday. Patel had won the 2018 by-election for Phulpur seat.