SP Rajya Sabha member meets Yogi; another party leader quits

LUCKNOW : Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha member Sukhram Singh Yadav met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and described it as “a courtesy call” while another SP leader quit the party citing “injustice with the party’s Muslim leaders”. Both the developments are being seen as signs of fresh trouble in the SP camp.

Sukhram Singh Yadav met Adityanath at the chief minister’s official residence in Lucknow on Thursday. The meeting triggered speculation that he may switch over to the BJP. Sukhram was accompanied by his family, including son Mohit, who had recently joined the BJP.

Asked about the purpose of the meeting, Sukhram Yadav, 70, told the media on Friday that since he could not meet Adityanath after his swearing-in in March, he had gone to congratulate him now.

Sukhram Singh Yadav’s Rajya Sabha term is going to end soon. There is a buzz that he may be hoping to get another stint through the BJP.

Sukhram Singh Yadav had served as chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council from 2004-10. He became a Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party on July 5, 2016. He, however, admitted differences with the SP leadership.

“The difference is that it was said by Akhilesh (Yadav) ji during the party feud (in 2016) that netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will be made the national president of the party after the 2017 elections,” he said.

“However, many elections have passed, but no action has been taken in this regard.I only want that the respect for netaji should remain intact,” Sukhram Singh Yadav said.

In the second development, SP leader Kasim Raeen on Friday resigned from all party posts. He mentioned “no action” by party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others against “rising incidents of atrocities meted out to Muslims” in Uttar Pradesh.

“Akhilesh Yadav kept silent when Azam Khan and his family were put in jail. The SP president did not raise his voice after Nahid Hasan was imprisoned and Sahijal Islam’s petrol pump was demolished,” Raeen said in his resignation letter.

“I am resigning from all the posts of the party after being angered with such behaviour of the SP president towards Muslims,” he added.

Kasim Raeen was the party’s sector in- charge in Sultanpur district.