Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Dara Singh Chauhan, one of the leaders who resigned from the BJP earlier this week, joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday. He is the third minister after Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini to leave the BJP and join the party led by Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in UP.
Many other MLAs and MPs also joined the SP along with Chauhan today, in the presence of party president Akhilesh Yadav. These leaders included the former state vice president Yogendra Chauhan, former candidate Mohan Chauhan, former Lok Sabha candidate Brijbhan Chauhan and Apna Dal MLA Dr RK Verma, among others. The sitting MLAs Bhagwati Sagar, Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Mukesh Verma and Brajesh Kumar Prajapati had also joined SP earlier.
While addressing the media personnel, Dara Singh Chouhan described Akhilesh as the future Chief Minister of UP. "In 2017, the BJP government gave the 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' slogan. But only a selected group of people were benefitted from the development," Chauhan said in his address. He further claimed that the people from the backward class and Dalits have been ignored by the government.
"But this won't continue anymore. I'll make sure that no Dalits are cheated hereafter. The Brahmins at large are also angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party," the former BJP legislator from the Madhuban constituency in Lucknow said. He further alleged that the current government is trying to tamper with the Constitution, which the Samajwadi Party would not do.
Dara Singh expressed confidence in his new party and said that the SP will form the government with a thumping majority. He also said that he has returned home, as he was associated with the Samajwadi Party in the past as well. Meanwhile, SP President Akhilesh Yadav welcomed Chauhan and all the other leaders to the party. "I welcome Dara Singh Chauhan and his supporters who have come along large numbers," he said.
Samajwadi Party has stitched a coalition of smaller parties for the assembly polls and has emerged as the main rival of the ruling BJP in the state. Earlier BJP MLAs Mukesh Verma, Vinay Shakya, Avtar Singh Bhadana, Roshan Lal Verma, Brijesh Prajapati and Bhagwati Sagar resigned from the party. Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.
Also read: Dara Singh Chauhan resigns from Uttar Pradesh BJP cabinet, Akhilesh welcomes him to SP
