A day after prominent Brahmin leaders from Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal area joined the SP, speculations are rife about former BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar Rakesh Pandey switching over to the Samajwadi Party ahead of assembly polls.
Those who jumped the ship on Sunday include BSP MLA from Chillupar assembly seat Vinay Shankar Tiwari, former BSP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar and sitting BJP MLA from Khalilabad Digvijay Narayan Chaubey alias Jai Chaubey had joined Samajwadi Party.
Sources said that Pandey met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday. Pandey’s son Ritesh is an incumbent BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar. If he joins the SP then it will further strengthen the grip of Samajwadi Party in the Purvanchal region, which is said to be the bellwether region of the state assembly polls.
In the 2017 election, the BJP registered a significant victory in Purvanchal as it won 106 seats from this region. It is a common saying in the political circles of UP that the battle for the state is determined by winning the Purvanchal seat. In 2017, the BJP won 106 out of 156 assembly seats in 26 districts, SP got 85 seats in 2012, and BSP got over 70 seats in 2007 – all from Purvanchal. This is the reason why the BJP is holding many of its programmes in Purvanchal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also conducted many tours in the region.
Pandey is not the first BSP leader who is expected to switch over to SP, a string of BSP leaders have been switching over to SP ahead of crucial 2022 UP assembly polls. Other BSP leaders who recently joined SP include Ghatampur MLA RP Kushwaha, cabinet minister KK Gautam, Saharanpur MP Qadir Rana, former state BSP chief RS Kushwaha.
Meanwhile, two big names and sitting MLAs, Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar, who was recently expelled from the BSP, also switched over to SP. Verma is a prominent name among OBC (Kurmi) leaders and held several portfolios under the BSP government. Rajbhar, an MLA from Akbarpur while Verma from the Katehari seat, also served as cabinet ministers during the BSP regime. Both were considered trusted aides of BSP chief Mayawati.
The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, which were once considered archrivals, came together for 2019 Lok Sabha polls amidst high-level campaigns that the alliance was unbeatable. However, on ground, things did not work as expected and BSP after gaining 10 Parliamentary seats announced that it was parting ways and blamed the SP for the failure of the tie-up. Yadav’s silence then helped him gain political brownie points.
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