Samajwadi Party’s Dalit lawmaker joins BJP

Subhash Pasi, a two-time Dalit Samajwadi Party (SP) lawmaker from Saidpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday

Subhash Pasi, a two-time Dalit Samajwadi Party (SP) lawmaker from Saidpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Saidpur, Subhash Pasi, joins the BJP in the presence of state president Swatantra Dev Singh in Lucknow on Tuesday. (ANI)

He defected to the BJP after the SP expelled him for alleged anti-party activities even as he claimed to have resigned from the party. The BJP has not won the Saidpur assembly seat since 1996.

Pasi, who joined the BJP in presence of the party’s state chief Swatantra Dev, is also an influential transporter with businesses in Mumbai. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai.

His defection comes days after BJP lawmaker Rakesh Rathore, who belongs to an other backward caste, joined the SP.

Pasi joined the BJP days after the SP named his wife, Reena, as the national secretary of the party’s women wing.

Union home minister Amit Shah is believed to have met Pasi before he joined the BJP.

As he inducted Pasi into the party. Dev slammed SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for his remarks that appeared to equate Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.