Ahead of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, one MLA of Bharatiya Janata Party and six rebel MLAs of Bahujan Samaj Party joined the Samajwadi Party in the presence of its leader Akhilesh Yadav at the party headquarters here 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.
The BSP MLAs were suspended 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 SP leader after they were suspended from their party.
Rebel BJP MLA Rakesh Rathore had met Akhilesh Yadav in September and had criticised 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 was critical of the Uttar Pradesh government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and medical services in Sitapur district.
Addressing 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 fulfilled the promises made in the party’s 2017 UP election manifesto.
“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 Yadav asked.
He said 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.
