Rajya Sabha polls: A day of blows for SP, starting with chief whip; Congress too will feel the pain

All 9 MLAs of the RLD, which recently went back to the NDA, voted in favour of the BJP’s eighth candidate, Sanjay Seth. The lone BSP MLA, Uma Shankar Singh, also voted for Seth.

As the numbers in the House swayed, the BJP brought in one of its ailing MLAs, Neel Ratan Patel, in an ambulance to vote.

The signs as to how the day would proceed came early on, when SP chief whip Manoj Kumar Pandey resigned just before going in to vote. A close aide of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Pandey had been picked ahead of senior leaders for the post.

Then, SP MLAs Rakesh Pratap Singh and Abhay Singh, whose influence extends to the parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Raebareli, declared that they would go with their “antaratma ki awaaz (inner voice)” in voting, and that “Lord Ram” was in their “heart”.

Four other SP MLAs gave a hint of their voting preference, arriving at the Assembly premises along with the BJP candidates, Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak and BJP state president Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, like their fellow ‘rebels’.

A clearly upset Akhilesh accused the BJP of “luring” MLAs and of not stopping at anything to win. “BJP chunao jeetne ke liye koi bhi hathkanda apna sakti hai. Koi bhi laabh dene ke liye aashwashan de sakti hai (The BJP can try any trick to win elections, offer any kind of assurances),” the SP chief said, before going to cast his vote.

While he did not know about the “inner voice” of any one, he knew what was being offered, he added. “Kisi ko security ki zaroorat, kisi ko dhamkaya gaya hoga (Someone wants security, someone may have been threatened). We are hearing talk of ‘packages’ offered… Those who have gone, they did not have the courage to stand up to the government,” Akhilesh said, promising action against those who cross-voted.

Within hours, the name plate identifying Manoj Pandey as SP ‘Chief Whip’ had been removed from the party’s office on the Vidhan Sabha premises.

For the BJP, Pandey is a big asset. A three-time MLA from Unchahar Assembly constituency of Raebareli, he won the past two times defeating BJP candidates in direct fights.

Rakesh Pratap, the SP MLA from Gauriganj, which falls under the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, told reporters: “Antaratma ki awaaz pe vote karna hai (I must vote as per my conscience).” On a question about the Ram Temple and whether that was a factor, he said: “Ram kan-kan mein hain (Lord Ram is everywhere).”

Later, after the voting was complete, Rakesh Pratap criticised the SP’s functioning, claiming that instead of long-time workers, outsiders were being rewarded. He said its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls time as well as earlier showed this clearly, hinting at both actor-politician Jaya Bachchan (who won) and Alok Ranjan (who lost).

Abhay Singh, the SP MLA from Goshaiganj in Ayodhya parliamentary seat, also invoked Ram. “Bhagwan Ram hamare aaradhya hain, hum to unhi ke kul khandan ke hain (Ram is our Lord, we are from his own family).”

The other SP leaders who are believed to have cross-voted include Vinod Chaturvedi, the MLA from Kalpi in Bundelkhand; Rakesh Pandey, the MLA from Ambedkarnagar and the father of BSP MP Ritesh Pandey, who just joined the BJP; Pooja Pal, the MLA from Chail and the wife of slain gangster-politician Raju Pal.

The seventh SP MLA who is said to have voted for the BJP is Jatav leader Ashutosh Maurya, a three-time MLA from Bisauli reserved seat in Badaun.

Pallavi Patel, the Apna Dal (K) leader who won her seat in the 2022 Assembly polls on the SP symbol, cast her vote only in favour of the SP’s Dalit candidate, Ramji Lal Suman, having earlier declared that she did not support the party’s other choices.

Another SP MLA, Maharaji Prajapati, did not turn up to vote. BJP leaders claimed that the Amethi Assembly seat representative, a first-time MLA and the wife of former SP minister Gayatri Prajapati, was in touch with them.

The SP’s winning candidates included actor-politician Jaya Bachchan and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman. The BJP’s new Rajya Sabha members from UP include R P N Singh (ex-Congress Union minister); Amarpal Maurya (general secretary of BJP); Sangeeta Balwant (former minister); Sudhanshu Trivedi (spokesperson); Sadhna Singh (ex-MLA); Naveen Jain (former Agra mayor); Chaudhary Tejveer Singh (former MP) and Sanjay Seth (businessman-turned-politician and the surprise 8th candidate by the BJP).

Tuesday’s developments could also have repercussions in the Lok Sabha polls. If the Congress had hoped that Manoj Pandey’s popularity would rub off on its candidate in Raebareli, it was counting on Rakesh Pratap and Abhay Singh’s base to make the fight easier in Amethi, as their seats lie adjacent to the constituency.

Tuesday’s cross-voting is also set to dampen the enthusiasm of the SP-Congress alliance, which finally saw a ray of light in sorting of seat-sharing.

The ‘rebels’

Manoj Pandey: The SP’s chief whip till Tuesday, the 55-year-old was seen as the SP’s Brahmin face. A three-term MLA from Unchahar seat falling in Raebareli, Pandey was also expected to help SP ally Congress win its traditional bastion of Raebareli. The Congress is going to need all the help it can get as Sonia Gandhi is not in the race this time

Rakesh Pandey: The 60-year-old MLA from Jalalpur in Ambedkarnagar district joined the SP before the 2022 Assembly elections, from the BSP.

Rakesh Pratap Singh: A three-term MLA from Gauriganj in Amethi, the 47-year-old was seen as close to Akhilesh. Party sources said that he had, however, been sulking for some time, especially after Swami Prasad Maurya joined the SP from the BSP. He publicly criticised Maurya last year for speaking against “Sanatan Dharma”.

Ironically, Maurya too has left the SP now.

Abhay Singh: Two-term MLA from Goshaiganj in Ayodhya, the 49-year-old is seen as a bahubali and was once close to muscleman-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. Some SP leaders had expressed apprehensions about him as he had close ties with Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, who is believed to have convinced Abhay to vote for the BJP. Raja Bhaiya earlier offered the BJP his support.

Vinod Chaturvedi: The MLA from Jalaun in Bundelkhand was a Congress leader before he joined the SP ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.

Ashutosh Maurya: A three-time MLA from Bisauli reserved seat in Badaun district, Marya is an influential Jatav leader. Incidentally, the SP has announced its senior leader Shivpal Singh Yadav as its candidate from the Badaun Lok Sabha seat.

Puja Pal: A three-time MLA from Chail, the 44-year-old was married to BSP MLA Raju Pal, who was murdered in broad day light by men allegedly linked to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed. Pal had been in touch with the BJP for long, and recently met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Maharaji Prajapati: A first-time MLA from Amethi Assembly constituency, she is the wife of former SP minister Gayatri Prajapati. His conviction led to her taking the reins of the seat. On Tuesday, she did not come to vote, indicating her loyalties lay with the anti-SP front.