BSP, SP MLAs to vote for BJP in RS poll in Madhya Pradesh
The MLAs include Sanjeev Kushwah and Rambai Singh of the BSP and Rajesh Shukla of the SP. They were supporting the former Congress government of Kamal Nath from outside before it fell in March following rebellion by 22 lawmakers.
Two opposition MLAs in Madhya Pradesh, one from Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) and the other from Samajwadi party (SP) and an independent lawmaker said Thursday they would vote for BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats in the state on Friday. However, the central leaderships of both BSP and SP parties are yet to take a decision on who to support, according to the MLAs.
The MLAs include Sanjeev Kushwah of the BSP and Rajesh Shukla of the SP. They were supporting the former Congress government of Kamal Nath from outside before it fell in March following rebellion by 22 lawmakers. and Rambai Singh is another BSP MLA in the assembly.
The BJP candidates for the election include former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki while Congress candidates include former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and Phool Singh Baraiya.
Sanjeev Kushwah said, “I am with the government and this is for development of my assembly constituency.”
SP MLA Rajesh Shukla spoke along the same lines and said he would vote for the BJP candidates.
However, both the MLAs said there was no party leadership’s decision so far in this regard and added that if the party leadership took a different decision then they will look into that.
Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera said, “Everybody saw yesterday that I stood with the government. There is no confusion on my part.”
State BJP leader Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “We are going to have support of all the non-Congress MLAs and our candidates will win the election comfortably. This is why Congress is worried.”
Both the Congress and BJP legislature parties had meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and BJP state affairs in charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe arrived at Bhopal on Wednesday evening. State Congress affairs in charge Mukul Wasnik also came from Delhi.
State Congress president Kamal Nath who addressed the CLP meeting said the Rajya Sabha election result should be a message for those who betrayed the party.
“The MLAs are to undergo a training once again so that there is no mistake during voting on Friday. The Rajya Sabha election result should be a message for those who betrayed the party and toppled a democratically elected government of Congress.”
The BJP looks in a comfortable position to win two of the three Rajya Sabha seats.
The state assembly has presently 206 MLAs with 24 vacant seats. In the house, BJP has 107 MLAs and Congress 92 while there are four independent, two BSP and one SP MLAs. As per state assembly officials, as many as 52 first preference votes are needed for victory of a candidate but to avoid any chance of setback at the last minute both the parties were busy in permutations and combinations on the eve of the poll to ensure there is no mistake during the voting and no cross voting either.
