Akhilesh Yadav says no more entry of BJP deserters

Apparently finding it difficult to accommodate outsiders within his party, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday declared that his party would not admit any more deserters from the BJP or any other party.

''We will not admit any more MLAs from the BJP even if the latter denies renomination to them,'' Akhilesh told reporters here.

The SP president's assertions came amid reports that some more BJP MLAs, including at least one minister, were planning to leave the saffron party and had approached the SP leaders.

Also read: BJP has already sent Adityanath home, says Akhilesh Yadav after UP CM fielded from Gorakhpur

''There are several BJP MLAs, who are in touch with us....one of them is a minister.....they want tickets from our party but we are not in a position to accommodate them,'' said a senior SP leader while speaking to DH here.

On Friday influential OBC leader and former BJP minister Swami Prasad Maurya had joined the SP along with another ex-minister and six saffron party legislators. All of them were likely to be nominated by the SP in the forthcoming assembly polls.

One more minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet a few days back, was also likely to cross over to the SP shortly. ''Chauhan will get the SP ticket,'' the leader said.

Sources in the SP said that large-scale entry of the BJP deserters had become a cause of concern for the SP leaders, especially those who were seeking the party nominations in the forthcoming polls. ''It will become difficult for us to accommodate our own leaders if we allow such a large number of outsiders....we can not afford to ignore loyal party leaders,'' he added.

Besides a few of the leaders, who had exited from the BJP, were seeking tickets from the assembly seats where the SP already had sitting MLAs.

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