BJP Pulls Off SP ‘Revolt’ in RS Polls: Skipping Ayodhya Trip, Picking Jaya Bachchan, Ranjan Cost Akhilesh Dear

Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to not let any Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA go to Ayodhya earlier this month as part of the all-party delegation led by the Speaker, and Yadav’s decision to field retired bureaucrat Alok Ranjan and Jaya Bachchan as Rajya Sabha nominees – these are the two major reasons that led to the rebellion in the SP during the Rajya Sabha polls.

Eight-nine SP MLAs are said to have cross-voted, including two SP MLAs from Amethi like Rakesh Pratap Singh and Maharaji Devi. This is a blow to the INDI alliance in the Lok Sabha seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli too.

As per inside details with News18, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was silently working on the project of weaning away SP MLAs for almost a fortnight now, even as Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were busy holding a joint appearance at the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Agra last week. The BJP knew that some SP MLAs were upset over the decision of Yadav to not let any SP member to go to Ayodhya when the Speaker had led the delegation on February 11.

Even Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs had joined the delegation with BJP MLAs, but none of the SP MLAs went as Akhilesh Yadav on the floor of the state assembly rejected the Speaker’s invite. The Speaker, Satish Mahana, later had said that except 14 SP MLAs, all other SP MLAs had wished to join the delegation.

Leading the revolt now is a major Brahmin face of SP and the party’s chief whip, Manoj Pandey. While SP and Congress were jointly in Agra Nyay Yatra, the BJP in Lucknow was silently getting MLAs like Pandey on its side. With the chief whip of SP in Manoj Pandey resigning just on the eve of voting, the SP’s whip to its MLAs during Rajya Sabha voting is not effective and members are free to vote any side they want, while action against them in form of termination or expulsion as an MLA would be difficult. The rebellion by at least eight SP MLAs, includes two MLAs from Amethi and Pandey, who is the MLA from Ucchahar in Rae Bareli. Pandey may be ‘rewarded’ by the BJP with a Lok Sabha ticket from Rae Bareli against whoever the Gandhi family puts up.

The rebelling MLAs are also said to be upset over two of the three choices by the SP for Rajya Sabha nominations. Jaya Bachchan has been re-nominated for the fifth time, creating dissatisfaction among the ranks of SP. Another choice, of retired bureaucrat Alok Ranjan had baffled some as his caste base is minimal in UP. Many in the SP said these two nominations were much opposite to the PDA (Pichda-Dalit-Alpasankhak) formula being spoken about by Yadav for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, as both Bachchan and Ranjan are neither backward nor belong to the minority community. The third candidate nominated by the party, Ramji Lal Suman, is a Dalit leader whom many in SP are backing.

However, it seems, that only two of the three SP candidates could make the cut as the BJP could win eight of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats now given the support it has got from two MLAs of Raja Bhaiya’s party, nine MLAs of the RLD and at least eight rebelling MLAs of SP.

The BJP has worked the phone lines from Delhi as well as Lucknow to pull off this coup.