LUCKNOW: Four sitting MLCs of Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party defected to BJP on Wednesday, giving the saffron party a turbo boost on the road to assembly elections in UP next year. The exit of Narendra Bhati, CP Chand, Ravi Shankar Singh and Rama Niranjan came amid speculation about a coup by BJP to put SP on the back foot even before the battle begins. The term of all four MLCs in the upper house runs till March 7.
“Akhilesh won’t be able to sleep tonight,” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh after inducting the four MLCs into the party at its state headquarters here. He urged all four to ensure their supporters joined BJP en masse at the booth and sector levels.
Bhati had grabbed eyeballs for going against IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal when the latter launched a crackdown on the sand mining mafia during SP’s last stint in government. He represents the politically influential Gurjar community in west UP. CP Chand is a Dalit from CM Yogi Adityanath’s backyard Gorakhpur.
