Suspended BSP MLA meets UP CM, triggers speculation

Former Uttar Pradesh minister Ramveer Upadhyay has had a meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, triggering speculation that he may join the ruling BJP ahead of the 2022 state Assembly polls.

Confirming the development, an aide of the legislator from the Sadabad Assembly constituency in Hathras district said on Sunday, "Ramveer Upadhyay met the chief minister at the latter's official residence on Saturday."

Asked whether Upadhyay is planning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said, "Not at all. It was a meeting to convey the problems people face in his constituency."

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said, "Ramveer Upadhyay was elected as an MLA on a BSP ticket (in 2017). But during last year's Lok Sabha polls, he indulged in anti-party activities by helping the candidates of rival parties. The BSP had suspended him from the party then itself.

"If he joins the BJP, it will have no impact on the BSP. The BSP is surging ahead strongly. Law and order has collapsed in Uttar Pradesh. There have been incidents of atrocities on Brahmins and they are now looking towards the BSP, as they know that it is the only party which has taken the community along and worked for its interest in the past."