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Expelled BSP leaders meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav
Amid speculation about their political future, the two former BSP leaders said it was a preliminary meeting with Akhilesh Yadav to discuss next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly election
Expelled Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar met Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Friday.
Amid speculation about their political future, the two leaders said it was a preliminary meeting with Akhilesh Yadav to discuss next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly election.
Akhilesh Yadav shared a picture of the meeting with the two leaders on Twitter, describing it as a courtesy meeting.Verma said it was a cordial meeting with the Samajwadi Party chief.
“We discussed various political issues, including the coming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Once the talks about contesting the assembly election are completed, I will formally join the SP,” he said.
Rajbhar said, “We had a discussion about the assembly election and seats with the SP chief. It was an initial meeting before the joining. Once all the issues are discussed and finalised, we will join the Samajwadi Party,” he said.
Both Verma and Rajbhar said they will contest the 2022 assembly election from their stronghold in Ambedkarnagar district of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
BSP chief Mayawati had expelled Verma and Rajbhar on June 3 on the charge of indulging in anti-party activities during the panchayat election earlier this year. Verma held the post of the leader of the BSP legislature party in the state assembly while Rajbhar was the national general secretary of the party. The expulsion of the two top BSP leaders before the assembly election had surprised the political observers as well as BSP workers.
At that time, Verma and Rajbhar had said that they would meet Mayawati to clear misunderstandings. “We will wait for communication from the BSP chief. When she refuses to withdraw the expulsion, we will think about joining another political party,” Verma and Rajbhar had said. Mayawati refused to open the door to the duo, stating that she will not tolerate indiscipline by senior leaders or workers.
Earlier, seven rebel BSP MLAs Aslam Raini, Aslam Ali, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Hargovind Bhargava, Sushma Patel and Vandana Singh had also met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. There was speculation that these rebel MLAs will join the SP soon. Recently, former minister and BSP leader Ambika Chaudhary rejoined the SP.
