Once scorned, turncoats now flourish in Uttar Pradesh politics, reaping significant gains…reports Asian Lite News
Turncoats, at one time, were looked down upon in politics but today, they seem to be reaping a rich harvest in Uttar Pradesh.
The first Congress list for Uttar Pradesh included the names of Imran Masood from Saharanpur and Sadal Prasad from Bansgaon. Imram Masood has travelled from Samajwadi Party (SP) to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and then the Congress. Sadal Prasad has come in Congress from the BSP. Danish Ali, who has been fielded from Amroha, quit the BSP two months ago and joined the Congress a fortnight ago.
The first Samajwadi Party’s list included the name of Afzal Ansari, who had been elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 on a BSP ticket.
Afzal Ansari is the brother of the jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, and will be contesting the Ghazipur seat.
Ram Prasad Chaudhary, who is seeking election from Basti, is also from the BSP while Rajaram Pal the SP, candidate from Akbarpur, has also come in from BSP with a brief stopover in the Congress.
Annu Tandon from Unnao and R.K. Chaudhary from Mohanlalganj, both moved from SP to the Congress.
The BJP list also has its share of turncoats — from Jitin Prasada, who is contesting Pilibhit and has come from the Congress, to Jagdambika Pal, sitting MP from Domariyaganj — who have quit the Congress years ago and has been with the BJP.
A senior political analyst R K Singh said, “The tendency to give preference to turncoats over dedicated party workers is weakening the cadres of parties. Those who work for the parties are conveniently sidelined in favour of turncoats for whom changing parties is a political business.”
‘Akhilesh deliberately drove away allies’
uheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president and Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has said that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has deliberately driven away allies to help the BJP.
The minister said this while interacting with reporters here on Tuesday at his residence. He said Akhilesh Yadav has told all his allies to move towards the BJP.
“…’If you stay here there will be a fight’, is what he has told the allies,” Rajbhar said.
The SBSP chief said that people are contesting elections all over the country. “I had said seven months ago that after some time, some people of the opposition unity will make Modiji the Prime Minister and some people will step aside. Nitish ji sat down. Jayant ji sat aside. Mamta ji moved away. Now Akhilesh ji is also very eager to help,” he said.
Minister Rajbhar said that Akhilesh Yadav has sidelined almost everyone from the allies. “This is a sign that Akhilesh has also stepped aside to help BJP. He himself is telling everyone to go towards BJP. If you stay here, there will be a fight with BJP. If you go away there will be no fight. BJP will win. Akhilesh is doing all this to save himself…,” he said.
The Minister said till recently, ED and CBI were not allowed to work. “Today the agencies have the freedom within the ambit of the Constitution and while they are working, the opposition people are raising a hue and cry,” he added.
BJP Names 7 Candidates in Rajasthan in 5th List
The BJP on Sunday named 7 candidates in Rajasthan for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in its fifth list.
Priyanka Balan, a fresh face, has been fielded from Ganganagar, while Shubhkaran Chaudhary, who lost Assembly polls from Udaipurwati, has been named the party nominee in Jhunjhunu.
Manju Sharma, daughter of veteran BJP leader Bhanwarlal Sharma, has been fielded from Jaipur and Rao Rajendra Singh, former Deputy Speaker, from Jaipur Rural.
Sukhbeer Singh Jaunpuria has been re-nominated from Tonk, while Bhagirath Chaudhary would also seek re-election from Ajmer.
Mahima Vishveshwar Singh has been fielded from Rajsamand. She is the wife of Udaipur MLA Vishvaraj Singh Mewar.
In the fresh list, three sitting MPs — Ramcharan Bohra from Jaipur, Nihal Chand from Ganganagar and Narendra Kumar from Jhunjhunju have not been re-nominated while five new faces have been fielded.