BSP's RS candidate in trouble as party's 7 MLAs revolt in UP

The Rajya Sabha polls for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh took yet another interesting turn on Wednesday as seven MLAs of the BSP rebelled against the party leadership saying that they were withdrawing their names as proposers to the candidature of candidate Ramji Gautam. These MLAs went to Assembly to claim that they had never signed the papers of Gautam as proposers.

Lucknow:In an unprecedented development, seven legislators of Bahujan Samaj Party have withdrawn their support to the BSP's official candidate, Ramji Gautam, for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections.

According to sources, the nomination of Samajwadi Party-backed candidate Prakash Bajaj has been cancelled. Therefore, there will be no voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, BSP MLA, Mohammad Aslam Ali said,"When we came to know that the Bharatiya Janata Party is supporting BSP candidate Ramji Gautam, we decided to withdraw from the list of proposers. We are anti-BJP. If our party candidate had gone to the Rajya Sabha with the support of the BJP, our situation in our own area would have been quite damaging for us. How would we show the face of the people of the area? We are ready to face the action. As a proponent, the decision to withdraw the name has been made consciously. We are not scared of anything."

Hours after five Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs revolted against the party's official Rajya Sabha candidate Ramji Gautam, and claimed that their signatures as proposers were forged, the returning officer declared that Gautam's nomination papers were valid.

NOT TO EASY TO GET GAUTAM’S CANDIDATURE CANCELLED

When the news spread out about seven MLAs going against the party decision, BSP’s all big leaders including Satish Chandra Mishra reached the Assembly and spoke to the officials of the Assembly Secretariat. Senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra claimed that nomination papers cannot be rejected as per the rules. BSP MLAs have signed the nomination papers of our party candidate Ramji Gautam. He was present at the time of nomination. This constitutionally comes under the party system we have in place.

SP FIELDS BAJAJ AS REVOLT IN BSP CHANGES EQUATION

The returning officer, on the other hand, cancelled the nomination of Prakash Bajaj, an Independent supported by the Samajwadi Party.

The reason behind the cancellation of Bajaj's nomination papers was that the name one proposer was given as 'Nawab Shah' whereas his name is 'Nawab Jaan'.

After meeting the Returning Officer (RO) in the Assembly Secretariat, rebel MLAs of BSP also met former Chief Minister and SP president Akhilesh Yadav. It is expected that rebel BSP MLAs will support Samajwadi Party-backed candidate Prakash Bajaj in the Rajya Sabha election. Prakash Bajaj has filed his nomination with the support of Samajwadi Party amid political drama, which has gripped the State capital. If there is cross voting, the Bahujan Samaj Party can take some major action against these MLAs.

REBEL MLAS OF BSP

1. Aslam Rainey: Bhinaga (Shravasti)

2. Aslam Ali: Dholana (Hapur)

3. Har Govind Bhargava: Sidhauli (Sitapur)

4. Mujtaba Siddiqui: Pratappur (Prayagraj)

5. Hakim Lal Bind: Handia (Prayagraj)

6. Sushma Patel: Mungra Badshahpur (Jaunpur)

7. Vandana Singh: Sagdi (Azamgarh)

HAKIM LAL BIND, HANDIA (PRAYAGRAJ)

Hakim Lal Bind became an MLA for the first time on the BSP ticket in 2017. He became the village head in 2010. He became the in-charge of BSP for Handia in 2014. His education is up to graduation. He has also been a businessman

MUJTABA SIDDIQUI, PRATAPPUR (PRAYAGRAJ)

He is an MLA from Pratappur seat. Prior to this, he was a BSP MLA from Soraon Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

ASLAM ALI, DHOLANA (HAPUR)

He became MLA in 2017 from Dhaulana Assembly seat of Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh. He defeated senior BJP leader Ramesh Chand Tomar.

ASLAM RAINEY, BHINAGA (SHRAVASTI)

He contested the poll on the BSP ticket in 2002 but lost by 132 votes. In 2007 and 2012, he also contested the elections on the Congress ticket. In 2017, he defeated BJP’s Alakshendra Kant Singh.

SUSHMA PATEL, MUNGRA BADSHAHPUR (JAUNPUR)

Sushma Patel contested for the first time in 2017 on the BSP ticket and defeated Seema Dwivedi, a three-time MLA. Sushma Patel’s husband Ranjit Singh Patel is a PCS officer. His father-in-law has also been an MLA from Mariahu assembly constituency.

HAR GOVIND BHARGAVA, SIDHAULI (SITAPUR)

BSP MLA Hargovind Bhargava had defeated SP’s Manish Rawat in the year 2017 from Sidhauli reserved seat. In the 2012 elections, Hargovind was defeated by SP candidate Manish Rawat.

VANDANA SINGH, SAGDI (AZAMGARH)

Vandana Singh was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2017. In July 2013, Vandana Singh’s husband Sarvesh Singh Seepu was killed. After his murder, Vandana Singh entered politics and won the election.