Rebel BSP MLAs will join SP, says Akhilesh
They (BSP rebels) will join Samajwadi Party soon... they want to join SP and want to contest elections
AKHILESH YADAV, Samajwadi Party chief
LUCKNOW: Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, at least five MLAs suspended by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) last year met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday, with Yadav saying the rebel lawmakers will join his party.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister acknowledged the meeting did take place but did not elaborate on what transpired and how many rebels met him.
“They (BSP rebels) will join Samajwadi Party soon,” Yadav told TV news channel Aaj Tak. He added many senior leaders have met him and others were in touch with him. “...they want to join SP and want to contest elections...”
The deputy leader of the BSP in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, Uma Shankar Singh, described the MLAs as “garbage”.
“Efforts are being made to induct them into the SP. This has exposed the dual face of Akhilesh Yadav,” Singh said.
News agency PTI quoted Mungra Badshahpur MLA Sushma Patel as saying: “The meeting with Akhilesh Yadav, which lasted for 15-20 minutes, witnessed discussions on the upcoming UP assembly elections,”
When asked about the future course of action, Patel said, “Personally, I have made up my mind to join the Samajwadi Party.”
The BSP contested the 2019 national polls in the state in an alliance with the SP. At present, there are 18 BSP MLAs in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly.
When asked what prompted
the suspended BSP MLAs to meet Yadav, Patel said, “We were suspended in October 2020 during the Rajya Sabha elections and were categorically told not to use the BSP flag and banner, and also not to attend any party meeting.”
“At the time of the Rajya Sabha elections, neither the BSP issued any whip nor did we indulge in cross-voting. We were suspended without any basis. We were suspended as we had gone to meet Akhilesh Yadav,” she added.
Others who met the SP chief were Mohd Aslam Raini, Hakimlal Bind, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hargovind Bhargav, an SP leader aware of the developments told PTI
Akhilesh Yadav said the people of Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due next year, want the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government out. He added that the people are distressed over alleged corruption, Covid-19 mismanagement and that the SP will win.
Yadav ruled out any alliance with bigger parties. “The experience with both Congress (in 2017 assembly polls) and BSP (in 2019 Lok Sabha polls) was bitter. We will ally with small parties.”
He said there have been no talks with Om Prakash Rajbhar of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party or All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen of Asaduddin Owaisi. Yadav said if any small party wants to talk, the SP is open to the idea.
Yadav said the SP will not field a candidate against his uncle, Shivpal Yadav, who heads Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia.
In October 2020, seven BSP MLAs were suspended by party president Mayawati. They had opposed the nomination of party’s official candidate Ramji Gautam for the elections to the Rajya Sabha.
Apart from the five, the two other suspended from the party were Chaudhary Aslam Ali and Vandana Singh.
Earlier this month, Mayawati had expelled BSP’s legislative party leader Lalji Verma and Akbarpur MLA Ram Achal Rajbhar.