Lucknow: As five Samajwadi Party MLAs met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after casting their vote for the Rajya Sabha election, there was speculation of them having cross-voted in favour of the BJP. In response to this development, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said that disciplinary action would be taken against the MLAs if they had cross voted.
Samajwadi Party MLAs: Abhay Singh, Rakesh Singh, Rakesh Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, and Manoj Pandey met CM Yogi Adityanath in the Assembly Secretariat today.
"Not everybody has the guts to stand against the government. Pressure is put on everybody, is there anyone who doesn't know that BJP would go to any extent to win. BJP was dishonest during the Chandigarh elections also... When it comes to UP, BJP did everything to get votes and those who left, might not have had the guts to stand against the govt. Action will be taken because our party leaders want such people to be kept away from the party..." said Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Meanwhile, Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel claimed that she had cast her vote for Samajwadi Party candidate Ram Lal Suman in the name of the PDA.
Regarding the reported spat with the SP chief over the phone, Pallavi Patel said, "Now is not the time to talk about this, now we should talk about PDA (Backward, Dalit and Minority)." Reportedly, there was a heated argument over the phone between Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and Apna Dal (K) Chief Pallavi Patel regarding Rajya Sabha voting on Tuesday.
Earlier, in a blow to the Samajwadi Party, MLA and leader Manoj Kumar Pandey resigned from the post of Samajwadi Party Chief Whip.
Manoj Pandey met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in his chamber in the Legislative Assembly. Transport Minister Daya Shankar Singh was also present during the meeting.
"I have requested the party chief to accept my resignation from the post of Chief Whip," said SP MLA Manoj Kumar Pandey when he was going to meet Uttar Pradesh Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh.
After he met with the SP MLA, the UP Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh said that the SP MLA was a supporter of Sanatan Dharma.
"Many public representatives are joining the BJP due to being influenced by PM Modi's policies and the development that is happening in the country. Manoj Pandey ji has always been a supporter of Sanatan Dharma, he has been giving equal statements on this issue inside and outside the House. That's why he was unhappy there and when the proposal came for the darshan of Ram ji, he wanted everyone to go for darshan," Dayashankar Singh said
Earlier, another Samajwadi Party MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh indicated he would vote against the party saying that he is not angry with his party but will listen to the voice of his inner soul before casting his vote.
" I'm not angry with anyone, I will vote according to the voice of inner soul..." said Samajwadi Party MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath left the polling station in Lucknow after casting his vote for the Rajya Sabha elections. UP CM Yogi Adityanath was showing victory sign after casting his vote. Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav also cast his vote for the election.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has put up eight Rajya Sabha candidates and the Samajwadi Party 3 for the 10 seats at stake. As per the numbers in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP is guaranteed to win 7 seats while the SP should win 3 seats. However, there are reports that several MLAs could cross-vote.
On Monday, some legislators of the SP went missing from a dinner hosted by SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav. Reports suggest that at least 8 MLAs were missing from the dinner.
The BJP, however, was confident in getting the numbers to win all the eights seats where they have put up candidates.
UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said, " MLAs support and blessings are with BJP's candidates. The results will be in favour of BJP...all candidates of BJP will win"
The seven candidates fielded by the BJP are former Union Minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, general secretary of the party's Uttar Pradesh unit Amarpal Maurya, former state minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind), party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain.
But with the BJP fielding Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate, a keen contest is on the cards in one of the seats.
The SP has fielded actor MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan, and Ramji Lal Suman.
To get elected to the Rajya Sabha from UP, a candidate needs nearly 37 first preference votes. Voting for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on Tuesday and the results will be announced the same day.
The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years, and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country, the outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state. —ANI
