A day later, two former UP ministers and five BJP MLAs shared the stage with him, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday that his party would not induct any more MLAs or ministers from the saffron party.
“I will tell the BJP that I am not going to take BJP MLAs or ministers (in SP) now, you can cut their tickets,” he told media persons at the SP headquarters here. However, without disclosing the name, he said that another BJP leader would soon join the SP.
On former UP minister Dara Singh Chouhan, who quit the BJP on Thursday, Akhilesh said he and some others would be inducted into the party on Sunday.
Former UP cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday joined the SP along with another rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini. In the presence of Akhilesh, five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP.
Reacting to Yogi Adityanath’s candidature from Gorakhpur, Akhilesh said that the BJP has already sent the chief minister to his house. “He is not even a member of the BJP and his party has sent him to his home. There was talk of him contesting from Mathura, Ayodhya or Prayagraj before the BJP sent him back to his home in Gorakhpur. The SP chief, however, avoided a question whether the party would field any candidate against Adityanath.
On the Congress’s decision to give 40 percent tickets to women, Akhilesh said that the SP will choose its women candidates on the basis of their victory.
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