Several UP lawmakers feel they are ignored, threaten to quit BJP

Over a dozen people were sitting in the waiting room of Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Hridaya Narain Dixit’s residence the other day when the conversation turned towards leaders who had joined BJP before assembly elections and had won the poll on the Lotus symbol. A lady from Muzaffarnagar told a man sitting across her that many such law makers are now fed up with BJP and could leave the party before the next Lok Sabha elections.

Some of them agreed but the majority felt that this may not happen immediately because Yogi Government is just seven months old and no one would like to sacrifice his or her `Vidhayaki’ ( seat in the legislature) unless they receive a firm assurance from one of the principal parties--preferably Samajwadi Party.

Within a fortnight she appears to have been proved right as reports have surfaced that Raja of Tiloi , Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, who had joined BJP after quitting Samajwadi Party, is not feeling `comfortable’ in the BJP. He was elected from Tiloi assembly seat, which is part of Amethi parliamentary constituency represented by Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi.
He is camping in Lucknow with his supporters and has sought an appointment from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to apprise him of the situation on the ground level.

When this reporter met him on Wednesday, Singh refused to confirm if he was indeed on the verge of quitting BJP but said: “I will take a call after discussing the issue with my supporters.”

His supporters were however vocal about the humiliation Mayankeshawar Singh was facing in BJP and claimed that their Raja Sahib was being ignored by the party leadership. They blamed Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani for her interference in day to day working in Amethi.

“During BJP president Amit Shah’s meeting in Amethi, Raja sahib was totally ignored while this is a fact that 60 per cent of the crowd present at the rally ground was Raja Sahib’s supporters,” one of them volunteered.

Mayankeswar Sharan Singh, Raja of erstwhile Tiloi estate of Amethi, had left Samajwadi Party and joined BJP before the assembly polls and won from the Tiloi assembly seat. It may be recalled that Singh who was BJP MLA from Tiloi during 2002-07, was expelled from the party in April 2004 for anti-party activities and accused of hobnobbing with Congress in Amethi.

In the evening he met the Chief Minister and apprised him of his grievances. Later he said that he would hold a rally in his constituency but would not elaborate on why.

It is not only Singh. BJP insiders claim a number of turncoats are looking for the right opportunity to leave BJP. They named Rajni Tiwari, BJP MLA from Shahabad in Hardoi district who had joined BJP after quitting BSP. She has told Swami Prasad Maurya that she was not feeling very comfortable in the party.

Earlier, a minister in the Yogi Government, Om Prakash Rajbhar, had claimed that bureaucrats were not listening to him and offered to quit the ministry. He met the Chief Minister who succeeded in placating him.

The state BJP leadership brushed aside Tiloi MLA’s resignation threat. Party’s general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that Singh was not new to the party. Earlier he was in BJP and if he had issues he should raise them at the right forum.