Akhilesh Yadav shuts door on possible BJP defectors

Story by  ATV | Posted by  sabir hussain • 2 Years ago
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

 

Lucknow

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday shut the door to any possible BJP MLA or minister wanting to join his party.

At a press conference on Saturday, the former chief minister announced that he would not let any more BJP MLAs or ministers join the SP.

"Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to," Yadav said.

Yadav’s statement came after many BJP MLAs and ministers including Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent leader from the OBC community, quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined the Samajwadi Party.

Sitting BJP MLAs Bhagwati Sagar, Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Mukesh Verma, and Brajesh Kumar Prajapati have also joined the SP. Many of the MLAs who left the BJP reportedly exited the party following speculation that they would not be given tickets.

Samajwadi Party has stitched a coalition of smaller parties for the assembly polls and has emerged as the main rival to challenge the BJP in the state.

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.