4 UP ministers, 20 SP MLAs set to join BJP

Lucknow: Four ministers and about 20 MLAs of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh are ready to cross over to the BJP as and when their tickets are finalised for the UP Assembly elections, due in 2017.

These SP ministers and legislators are in constant touch with top BJP leaders and have even had meetings with them in New Delhi.

According to highly placed sources in the BJP, these SP ministers and MLAs have said that as soon as their tickets for the Assembly polls are cleared, they will “waste no time in quitting the Samajwadi Party”. A senior BJP leader admitted several SP leaders had met the party leadership but added that the final decision would be taken by the BJP parliamentary board.

Sources said the call details of some of these ministers had been given to Samajwadi leaders and it was because of their “frequent conversations” with BJP leaders that some of them were dropped from the council of ministers in October 2015.

“Two of the eight ministers who were dropped had been regularly talking to BJP leaders on the phone. Ministers whose portfolios were downsized were also found to be in touch with BJP leaders,” admitted a Samajwadi leader.

An SP MLA, suspected to be hobnobbing with the BJP, spoke freely on the subject after being assured anonymity. “We belong to the ruling party but the bureaucrats do not listen to us, the chief minister does not have the time and we get caught in the crossfire between top leaders. Unless the MLAs belong to a particular caste or owe direct allegiance to a top party leader, even an inspector does not listen to us. In such a situation, how can you even expect the people to vote for you,” he said.

A senior minister whose portfolio has been downsized said he had no qualms admitting to the meetings. “I have personal relations with some BJP leaders and I do not deny that I meet them whenever I go to Delhi or they come to Lucknow. If this was why I was given a less important portfolio, then even the top SP leaders are guilty because they invited the Prime Minister for a family wedding last year. The SP leadership should learn to differentiate between political and personal relations,” he said.

The minister said he was upset at the manner in which he had been treated by the SP and he would not mind switching over to the BJP if offered a seat. “In fact there are about two dozen leaders, including ministers and legislators, who are ready to move to the BJP,” he disclosed.