'BJP leaders ready to jump ship': Akhilesh on Rajbhar’s claims of rebellion in Samajwadi Party

Lucknow, June 17 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday dismissed claims of rebellion within his party ranks as "wild hearsay" and said that it was, instead, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Uttar Pradesh unit which was staring at likely defection by its legislators. 

Akhilesh Yadav’s retort came on the back of Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister OP Rajbhar’s claims that the SP was hurtling towards a Trinamool Congress-Shiv Sena-UBT style split, and it was a matter of time before the party watches its MLAs and MPs abandon it and start crossing over to the BJP.

The SP chief voiced confidence in his party’s bravery and said that courageous workers are required to challenge the BJP’s "wicked plans".

"Jo dar jaayega, who apna dal chor kar chala jaayega (Those who get frightened will leave their party and move away)," he said when asked about Rajbhar’s ‘prophecy’ about revolt in the Samajwadi Party, close on the heels of other opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena-UBT.

Akhiles Yadav accused the BJP of employing underhand tactics, including inducements and threats, for engineering splits in parties and said that brave "SP fighters" will quell its designs.

"SP is a strong party; it has weathered many storms in the past," he said while claiming that many BJP legislators are ready to cross over, and they will open their cards at the appropriate time.

The rebellion, first in the Trinamool, which saw at least 20 Parliamentarians quitting the party, was followed by a purported revolt in Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT, as many of its LS MPs allegedly went incommunicado with the top party leadership and were mulling forming a parliamentary bloc of their own.

Rajbhar claimed that the spotlight will shift to Uttar Pradesh soon, as the key opposition party will witness an upheaval soon and may see an extent of the whole party switching loyalties.

He claimed that SP national General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav has submitted a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah containing a list of lawmakers ready for a shift to the ruling party.

--IANS

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