Ahead of the assembly polls in UP, one MLA of Bharatiya Janata Party and six rebel MLAs of Bahujan Samaj Party joined the Samajwadi Party.
This occurred in the presence of its leader Akhilesh Yadav at the party headquarters on Saturday. BSP MLAs Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Sushma Patel, Aslam Chaudhary, Hargovind Bhargava, and Aslam Raini and BJP MLA from Sitapur constituency, Rakesh Rathore, switched sides on Saturday ahead of the assembly polls in UP.
The BSP MLAs were removed for anti-party activities in October last year. Before formally joining the SP, all the MLAs met Akhilesh Yadav on Friday. This was the second meeting of the BSP MLAs with the Samajwadi Party leader after they were suspended from their party.
Rebel BJP MLA Rakesh Rathore had met Akhilesh Yadav in September and had reprimanded his own party’s government in the state several times. In May this year, Rathore said lawmakers like him “do not have any stature” and if he made too many statements to the media “it may lead to a sedition case” against him.
Rakesh Rathore disapproved of the Uttar Pradesh government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and medical services in the Sitapur district.
On speaking with the media on Saturday, Akhilesh Yadav said: “Many people want to join the SP. When the time comes, you will see it. People are so unhappy with the BJP that they will be wiped out in the next polls. After MLA Rakesh Rathore’s joining, the chief minister might change his slogan from “Mera Parivar BJP Parivar to Mera Parivar bhagta Parivar”.
Akhilesh also added that the BJP government had not kept their promises made in the party’s 2017 UP election manifesto.
He said, “The BJP has cheated farmers, youth, and women. Where are the laptops and tablets which they had promised earlier? Where is the free one GB data which they were about to give to the students?”
Akhilesh also said that some more former MLAs and MPs from BSP, BJP, and Congress may join the SP in the coming days.
“Some current BJP MLAs are also in touch with the Samajwadi Party. If they are not given tickets, they will switch sides,” he said.