Nine BSP MLAs meet Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, may join Samajwadi Party
In a clear sign of disintegration in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ahead of next year's Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, 9 MLAs on Tuesday met Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. The MLAs are Hakim Lal Bind (Handia), Vandana Singh (Sagri), Ramveer Upadhyay (Sadabad), Anil Kumar Singh (Purwa), Aslam Raini (Bhinga), Aslam Ali (Dholana), Mujtaba Siddiqui (Pratappur), Hargovind Bhargava (Sidhauli) and Sushma Patel (Mungra Badshahpur).
The meeting between the MLAs and Akhilesh took place at the party office in Lucknow, triggering talks that they could switch over to the Samajwadi Party.
BSP supremo earlier this month had expelled two more MLAs -- Lalji Verma, who was also the BSP’s legislative party leader, and Akbarpur MLA Ram Achal Rajbhar, taking the total number of MLAs expelled by the party to 11, with all of them being removed in the last 18 months. According to reports, while Verma is in talks with the SP, Rajbhar could join the BJP.
The BSP now has only 7 MLAs, after another MLA resigned in 2019 when he won the general elections.
In the Assembly elections held in 2017, the BSP had won 19 seats. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in February-March next year.
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