Blow To Opposition In UP, Several Former Legislators Join BJP Ahead Of 2024 Elections

Among those who joined the BJP included former UP Congress media chief Rajeev Bakshi, former SP candidate against PM Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat Shalini Yadav.

Lucknow: Former legislators of opposition parties on Monday joined the BJP in the presence of both deputy chief ministers at the party office here, a party spokesperson said. Former ministers Saheb Singh Saini and Jagdish Sonkar, former MP Anshul Verma and former MLAs Sushma Patel and Gulab Saroj quit the Samajwadi Party while former MP Rajpal Saini quit the Rashtriya Lok Dal to join the ruling BJP in the presence of state unit president Bhupendra Singh Chowdhary at the party headquarters, BJP's state media in-charge Manish Dixit said.

Among those who joined the BJP also include former UP Congress media chief Rajeev Bakshi, former SP candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat Shalini Yadav, he added.

प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @Bhupendraupbjp, उप मुख्यमंत्री द्वय श्री @kpmaurya1 व श्री @brajeshpathakup की उपस्थिति में पार्टी की सदस्यता ग्रहण करते विभिन्न दलों के नेता व कार्यकर्ता।#bjp4india #BJP4UP pic.twitter.com/85zS5bDHEy — BJP Uttar Pradesh (@BJP4UP) July 24, 2023

Reacting to the development, SP chief Akhliesh Yadav said in a tweet in hindi: "Kuch log chale gaye 2000 ki note ki tarah (Some people left us like the 2000-rupee note)".

Yadav's tweet referred to the central government decision to withdraw Rs 2000 currency note from circulation in May. The 2,000-rupee note, introduced into circulation in 2016 after demonetisation, will remain legal tender but citizens have been asked to deposit or exchange these notes by September 30, 2023.

कुछ लोग चले गये 2000 के नोट की तरह… — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 24, 2023

A majority of leaders who joined the BJP belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC). Recently, prominent OBC leader Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and former minister Om Prakash Rajbhar had also joined the BJP-led NDA.

Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were also present at the occasion when the leaders joined the BJP.

Former minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Dara Singh Chauhan (Ghosi-Mau) had also joined the BJP earlier.