E-Paper
Four SP MLCs join BJP ahead of 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls
The BJP says two dozen more Opposition lawmakers in Uttar Pradesh are waiting to join it in the election season
Political poaching escalated ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday winning over four Samajwadi Party (SP) MLCs (members of legislative council ) to its fold. Soon after the joining, UP BJP vice president Daya Shankar Singh, a member of the party’s joining committee, said that two dozen opposition lawmakers waiting to walk into the BJP camp soon.
Earlier this month, the SP had won over BJP’s OBC lawmaker Rakesh Rathore. The BJP had quickly hit back by getting SP’s Dalit lawmaker Subhash Pasi to join the party in the run-up to the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh welcomed the four SP MLCs: Ravi Shankar Singh aka Pappu Bhaiya, Narendra Singh Bhati, CP Chand and Rama Niranjan. He told them to bring their “friends” in the SP also to the BJP. The Samajwadi Party currently dominates the 100-member upper house of the state legislature.
The SP leads the house with 48 MLCs followed by the BJP’s 36 while the BSP (6), Congress (2) and Apna Dal (1) also figure there along with independents (3), teachers’ group MLCs (2) and independent groups (2).
The term of 35 MLCs is set to end on March 7, 2022, and BJP leaders said many of those joining the party now, would be fielded for local body MLC seats when the elections are called.
“We have closed the gap in the legislative council with the SP and, very soon, we would lead in the upper house too,” said UP BJP MLC and party’s state vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak.
Ravi Shankar Singh, SP MLC and grandson of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, said he had made up his mind to leave the party ever since Chandra Shekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar was denied the ticket from the Ballia Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 polls. Ballia has been the traditional Lok Sabha seat of Chandra Shekhar who represented it 10 times while Neeraj won the seat in the 2008 by-polls and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
When asked if the SP-SBSP pact would have any impact on eastern UP, where the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been drawing impressive crowds, Singh said, “SBSP won’t have any impact anywhere. After inking a pact with the BJP in 2017 UP polls, Rajbhar did little except strengthening himself.”
UP BJP leader Daya Shankar Singh said, “We speak to Om Prakash Rajbhar (SBSP chief) and no one knows where he will go.”
“We will have a joining almost every other day as there is a long queue of leaders wanting to join us. The joining will be done at various levels, at regional level, state level and several leaders would be joining in Delhi too,” Daya Shankar said.
The BJP has set up a joining committee to vet new inductions. The committee comprises veterans and is headed by former UP BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai with deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma and Daya Shankar as members.
Reacting to the poaching of its MLCs, SP leader IP Singh said: “BJP has little to call its own. They have appropriated leaders from other parties. But now even this tactic won’t work as people are waiting to vote them out.”
“By the way, there are many in the BJP waiting to join us,” he added.
