UP Election 2022: Do rebel BJP leaders joining SP prove selfishness bigger than national interest?

For instance, BJP leader and MLA from Fatehabad Jitendra Verma Jitendra Varma jumped ship to SP as he was denied a ticket and the saffron party fielded another candidate in his place for the upcoming elections.

Team Newsable

Lucknow, First Published Jan 24, 2022, 5:00 PM IST | Last Updated Feb 4, 2022, 2:42 PM IST

Lucknow: Though Assembly elections are fast approaching, the process of defection has not stopped, and be it popular or less popular leaders, they are constantly jumping ships. However, this is not something special because it is a trend that surfaces during every election. Not surprisingly, some strong names of parties quit their posts and joined other parties.

In this defection game, many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders joined Samajwadi Party (SP) as well as other parties. In this Assembly election, SP, which is the main opposition party, has been constantly increasing its caravan with the deflecting BJP MLAs and Ministers. However, notably these defections are due to politicians’ own interest rather than the national interest.

Also read: UP Election 2022: ‘Ghar wapsi’ for SP MLA Subhash Rai as he returns to BJP fold

On the other hand, Chhotelal Verma has been nominated for the Fatehabad seat, which angered the sitting MLA. Interestingly, it is ‘ghar wapsi’ for Jitendra as he was with SP earlier, but defected to BJP in 2014. He defeated SP candidate Rajendra Singh from Fatehabad seat by 33,000 votes in the 2017 Assembly elections. Now, Akhilesh has handed him the responsibility of district president of Agra.

This Assembly elections seem special because in 2017 BJP wave was high but in 2022 it has been difficult to speculate. The crowd is gathering wildly in the rallies of SP, while BJP is also not second to anyone. Congress has also filled a lot of enthusiasm among the people with their slogan ‘Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon’, while BSP is also moving ahead continuously. Not ready to take risks this time, BJP has fielded only those faces whose chances of winning are 100%.

It is worth noting that in recent days, Labour and Employment Minister Swami Prasad Maurya, Forest and Environment Minister Dara Singh Chauhan and AYUSH Minister (Independent Charge) Dharam Singh Saini resigned from the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party. Along with this Brijesh Prajapati, MLA of Tindwari of Banda, Roshan Lal Verma, MLA of Tilhar, Shahjahanpur, Bhagwati Prasad Sagar, MLA of Bilhaur, Kanpur, Vinay Shakya, MLA of Bidhuna, Auraiya, Digvijay Narayan alias Jai Choubey, MLA of Khalilabad, Nanpara MLA of Bahraich, Madhuri Verma and Sitapur MLA Rakesh Rathore have also resigned from BJP.

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