UP elections: Exodus from BJP continues as MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana joins SP ally RLD

In another setback to BJP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, sitting MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana switched allegiance to RLD on Wednesday in the presence of Jayant Chaudhary. Having represented Faridabad thrice and Meerut once in the Lok Sabha, he joined BJP in 2015 and was elected to the Meerapur seat of Muzaffarnagar in 2017. He was reportedly miffed with the saffron party since the commencement of the agitation against the three farm laws. For the upcoming UP elections, RLD is a part of the Samajwadi Party-led alliance.

Spate of resignations rock BJP

BJP was left embarrassed on Tuesday after key OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the UP Cabinet and joined SP. He had joined the saffron party in the presence of the then BJP president Amit Shah on August 8, 2016, after serving in BSP for two decades. After BJP swept the election by winning a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, Maurya was immediately inducted into UP's Council of Ministers.

In the resignation letter sent to Governor Anandiben Patel on Tuesday, Swami Prasad Maurya wrote, "Sir, in the Cabinet of Hon'ble Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Ji, as the Minister of Labour, Employment and Coordination, I discharged my responsibilities with utmost attention in spite of adverse circumstances and different ideology. But I am resigning from the Cabinet of Uttar Pradesh due to the gross negligent attitude towards Dalits, backward classes, farmers, unemployed youth and small and medium enterprises traders". Later, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav welcomed him into the party fold. 

He remarked, "There will be a revolution of social justice. There will be a change in 2022". Subsequently, 4 more BJP MLAs- Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar put in their papers and are set to join SP soon. The induction of Maurya is likely to boost SP's appeal among non-Yadav OBCs in the UP election which is being held in 7 phases- February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3 and March 7. On the other hand, the counting of votes will take place on March 10.