Farmers Movement Archive

Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav jolted before polls, four SP MLCs defect to BJP

LUCKNOW: Months ahead of assembly polls, BJP received a riveting shot in the arm on Wednesday when four sitting MLCs of the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party defected to the saffron camp. The four lawmakers who joined BJP included Narendra Bhati, C P Chand, Ravi Shankar Singh and Rama Niranjan. The defections came amid speculations of a covert coup by BJP to unleash a stunning punch on SP, which has been positioning itself squarely against the ruling party in run-up to the assembly elections. Notably, all four MLCs have their tenure in the upper house till March 7. “Aaj Akhilesh Yadav ko neend nahi aayegi (SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will not be able to sleep today),” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh after inducting the four SP MLCs in the party at the state BJP headquarters in Lucknow. Claiming the four lawmakers will strengthen BJP, Singh categorically asked the newly inducted leaders to ensure their supporters at booth and sector levels also join BJP. Bhati, a native of Dadri in Gautam Buddh Nagar, had grabbed eyeballs for opening a front against IAS officer, Durga Sakhti Nagpal, who launched a massive crackdown on the sand mining mafia in GB Nagar during the SP regime. Hailing from the politically influential Gurjar community in west UP, Bhati was elected to the upper house from Bulandshahr local authority quota on a SP ticket in 2016. Nagpal, then SDM of Noida, was suspended by the SP government over an allegation of bulldozing a mosque wall in 2013. The officer, who is currently posted as a deputy secretary in the Union ministry of commerce, was then backed by BJP. The induction of Bhati in BJP gains pertinence in the backdrop of the farmers’ stir against three farm laws impacting parts of NCR and restive west UP. Likewise, CP Chand, is a Dalit from the political backyard of CM Yogi Adityanath, Gorakhpur. Elected from Gorakhpur-Maharajganj local authority quota in 2016, Chand contested 2012 state elections from Chillupar assembly seat on a SP ticket, but lost to Rajesh Tripathi of BSP. His father late Markandey Chand represented the erstwhile Duriapar assembly seat in Gorakhpur in 1980 as INC (U) candidate. In 1989 and 1991, he won as a Janata Dal candidate while in 1996 he won on a BSP ticket. Chand later switched to Lok Jan Shakti Party in 2002 and then to BJP in 2007, but lost on both occasions. Ravi Shankar Singh aka Pappu Bhaiyya, a Thakur, is a native of Ballia and a relative of former PM Chandra Shekhar, whose son Neeraj too had switched to BJP from SP in 2019 and was nominated to Rajya Sabha. Ravi’s defection to BJP gains significance amid hectic political activity in Poorvanchal region, which is being assiduously eyed by various political outfits. Similarly, Rama Niranjan, an OBC, hails from the Bundelkhand region and represents SP in the council from the Jhansi-Jalaun-Lalitpur local authority quota. Her husband, R P Niranjan, president of UP Polytechnic Lecturer Association, too joined BJP.

The Times of India

2021-11-18

Lucknow