It’s homecoming for rebels in UP
The police sprays water to disperse government employees who were staging a protest march at Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar
Expulsions, suspensions and allegations are now a thing of the past. With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, political parties have slipped into in a forgive-and-forget mode and are welcoming rebels with open arms.
The Samajwadi Party, for instance, has welcomed back Ms Ranjana Bajpai and had asked her to win over women Brahmin voters for the party. At a recent press conference, Ms Ranjana Bajpai said that she had never left the Samajwadi family but had remained inactive due to the academic workload.
Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav also asserted that Ms Bajpai had never left the Samajwadi Party.
Both the leaders chose to forget the fact that Ms Ranjana Bajpai had joined the BSP with much fanfare and had even contested the assembly elections from Sitapur on a BSP ticket last year and had lost the same. Her son Harsh Bajpai had also contest from Allahabad on a BSP ticket and had lost.
The Samajwadi Party has also welcomed back Dharmendra Kashyap who had left the party to join the BJP. He will be the party candidate on the Aonla seat.
Dharamraj Patel, who had left the SP to join the Congress, is another leader who has had a homecoming and is the SP candidate on the Phulpur seat.
The BSP, on the other hand, has also deviated from its earlier policy of not taking back rebels. Almost 12 years after his expulsion, the BSP has thrown open its doors for former minister R.K. Choudhury.
Mr Choudhury has been assigned the task of bringing the Pasi community votes closer to the BSP. He is also the BSP candidate on the Mohanlalganj seat for the Lok Sabha polls.
Similarly, former minister Rakesh Dhar Tripathi had quit the BSP last year after being denied an Assembly ticket. He unsuccessfully contested his Handia seat on the banner Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party. The former minister, currently embroiled in a disproportionate asset case, is back in the BSP fold and has been named as the party candidate for the Mirzapur seat.
Haji Yakub Qureshi, who has traveled through a number of political outfits, is also back in the BSP and his candidature is also likely to be announced soon.
Another politician who has traveled through various parties and is now in the BJP is Sonu Singh of Sultanpur. His entry into the BJP initially raised heckles but he is now firmly ensconced in the party.
Justifying the trend, a senior SP leader said, “In elections, all that finally matters is winnability and party-hopping is no big deal any more. All is forgiven if you can get us a seat.”
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