Defections just ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh have emerged as a big worry for the BJP who two Cabinet ministers are set to join the Samajwadi Party. A day after OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya’s resignation, another Cabinet minister Dara Singh Chauhan resigned and met Akhilesh Yadav, indicating that he too was headed there.
Meanwhile, the BJP is considering fielding Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who announced earlier that he would contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, from Ayodhya. The move is being seen in the party as one that would amplify the Hindutva message and galvanise the cadre.
In the first list of 125 candidates for UP polls, 50 candidates are women, including Asha Singh, mother of the Unnao rape victim. From Shahjahanpur, we have fielded Asha worker Poonam Pandey who led an agitation for a raise in honorarium: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
The meeting of BJP's Central Election Committee is underway to finalise candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Union Ministers Amit Shah, Anurag Thakur, Dharmendra Pradhan, and UP CM Yogi Adityanath are among the attendees. PM Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will join the meet virtually.
Shiv Sena will not be part of any alliance in UP. We have ideological differences with Samajwadi Party but we want a change in the state. We have been working for a long time in UP but didn't contest elections because we didn't want to hurt BJP: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
Raut had yesterday announced that the party will contest 50-100 seats in UP polls and he will visiting western UP on Thursday.
OP Rajbhar, a former ally of the BJP who has now hands with the Samajwadi Party, told Hindustan Times that BJP is the enemy of OBCs and that more leaders will quit the party. A key OBC leader himself, Rajbhar said that keeping its OBC base intact will be a challenge for the BJP.
The BJP core committee’s meeting, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to discuss Uttar Pradesh elections ended after 14 hours in the early hours of Thursday. NISHAD president was also said to be present in the meeting. The party, which discussed seat-sharing with leaders, will make announcements on it after CEC meeting on Thursday.
