LUCKNOW: Just few months ahead of UP assembly elections, BJP received a fresh shot in the arm on Wednesday when Aditi Singh, rebel Congress MLA from the Gandhi family's bastion Rae Bareli, defected to the saffron camp. BSP MLA from Sagri assembly seat in Azamgarh, Bandana Singh, who was suspended by party chief Mayawati in October last year on charges of anti-party activities, also joined BJP.
After inducting them in the party, BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh said the joining of the two leaders will strengthen the party in Rae Bareli and Azamgarh. "Dono vipaksh ko kadi chunauti dengi... (Both will give a tough fight to the opposition)," he said.
Aditi told TOI that it was a well thought of move though its suddenness may have surprised political observers.
Congress MLA from Harchandpur seat in Rae Bareli, Rakesh Singh, too, has been openly siding with BJP since 2019 when his elder brother MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh defected to BJP and contested against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections.
'Aditi seeks to retain her dad's supremacy in Rae Bareli district'
The defection of Aditi Singh, daughter of local strongman, late Akhilesh Singh, had been on the cards for the past two years as she kept showing signs of rebellion against Congress. In 2019, she defied the party whip and attended the special assembly session called by the Yogi Adityanath government to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Congress had then filed a petition seeking her disqualification.
Aditi, a postgraduate in management, has been openly praising the policies of BJP, including revocation of Article 370. She recently took a stand against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the Lakhimpur incident in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.
Akhilesh Singh was with Congress an MLA from the Rae Bareli Sadar from 1993 till 2012. However, his relations with the Gandhi family started straining after he backed the SP-led government in 2003. Thereafter, he contested the 2007 assembly polls as independent and 2012 elections as Peace Party candidate, winning on both the occasions. After Akhilesh's health deteriorated, his daughter Aditi contested on Congress ticket in 2017 and won, despite the strong saffron wave.
Political experts say Aditi seeks to maintain her father's supremacy in Rae Bareli which may not be possible while staying with Congress after her father's blow hot, blow cold relations with the Gandhi family.
Similarly, the induction of Bandana Singh marks BJP deft strategy and sends a stern signal to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who is an MP from Azamgarh.
The induction comes days after Union home minister Amit Shah laid the foundation of a university in Azamgarh.
Out of the 10 constituencies in Azamgarh district, BJP could win only the Phoolpur Pawai seat where Arun Yadav defeated BSP candidate Abul Qais by over 7,000 votes. Of the remaining nine, four were won by SP and five by BSP.
Bandana hails from a political family in Azamgarh and her husband late Sarvesh Singh Sipu was also BSP MLA from Sagri. After his murder in 2013, Bandana got elected from the seat.
