Several turncoats in BJP’s first list of UP candidates

LUCKNOW: Several turncoats featured in the BJP’s first list of 149 candidates announced on Monday for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, hours after a Samajwadi Party lawmaker from Unnao joined the party.

India’s most populous and politically crucial state votes in seven phases, from February 11 to March 8, for a new government. The BJP is making a hard push to regain power in UP, where it won 71 or the 80 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The party fielded all its lawmakers from the state, except Varanasi and Lucknow, the Lok Sabha constituencies of PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

The BJP will possibly discuss the two seats at its central election committee meeting on Tuesday.

Among the deserters, the party fielded former BSP leaders Mahavir Rana from Behat, Dharam Singh Saini from Nakud, former UP minister Raja Aridaman Singh’s wife Pakshalika Singh from Agra’s Bah seat. It also gave tickets to former Congress leaders Vinod Tejiyan from Rampur Maniharan (reserved seat) and Pradeep Chaudhary from Gangoh.

Earlier in the day, Unnao legislator Kuldeep Sengar joined the BJP. The buzz is that several more lawmakers from the SP, fearing that their prospects will be hit by the internal feud in the party, are bargaining hard with the BJP for tickets. Two days ago, the BJP got into its fold former UP minister and five-time MLA from Agra’s Bah assembly seat, Raja Aridaman Singh, who joined the party with his wife Pakshalika Singh.

Keshav Prasad Maurya confirmed that several leaders from various parties are in touch with them. But none have set any preconditions, he claimed.