BSP stares at yet another split; Rebels likely to join SP

At least six BSP legislators on Tuesday met Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav triggering speculations of yet another split in the Mayawati-led party ahead of the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, scheduled to be held nine months later.

One of the rebel legislators Aslam Raini said that they were planning to form their own outfit under the leadership of outsed BSP MLA and former UP minister Lalji Verma, expelled from the party by Mayawati a few days back along with former UP president of the BSP, Ram Achal Rajbhar.

''Lalji Verma will be our leader....other rebel MLAs will also join us soon,'' he claimed.

The rebels need the support of at least 12 legislators to effect a split in the 18-member BSP legislature party. As many as 11 BSP legislators had either deserted the party or were expelled by Mayawati.

Most rebels were inclined to join the SP but they were awaiting more desertions from the BSP legislature party so that the Anti-defection Act did not apply to them.

According to sources in the SP, Akhilesh has assured the rebel BSP MLAs of nomination in the next assembly election.

BSP is not a stranger to splits. In the past, the party had split on several occasions since its formation in 1984.

Barely ten years after its formation, the BSP had suffered its first split when Raj Bahadur, one of the founding members of the party, had parted ways with 20 legislators and formed a new outfit. It experienced another split in 2003 when around a dozen party MLAs defected to the SP and helped the latter form government in the state.

BSP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the SP and had managed to win ten seats in UP. It was then expected that BSP and SP could fight the 2022 assembly poll in UP together. The bonhomie between the two arch rivals was short lived and they parted ways soon after the LS polls.