Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 14 (ANI): Three Samajwadi Party (SP) rebel MLAs, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Abhay Singh and Vinod Chaturvedi, are set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, with the leaders citing development under the Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath governments as a key reason for their decision.
Speaking in Amethi, Rakesh Pratap Singh, rebel SP MLA from Gauriganj, said that people in his constituency had encouraged him to join the BJP and assured him of their support.
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the people of my constituency who guided me correctly. They urged me to join the Bharatiya Janata Party and assured me of their support,” he told ANI.
Claiming that a large number of grassroots workers would also switch sides, Singh said, “98 per cent of the people who were instrumental in securing victories or facing defeats at the booth level will today leave the Samajwadi Party and join the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
He said Union Minister Smriti Irani, Pankaj Chaudhary, Amarpal Maurya, Bhola Singh, Sanjeev Balyan, Dara Singh Chauhan, Mayankeshwar Singh, Krishna Paswan, Dinesh Pratap Singh, Pratibha Shukla, Daya Shankar Singh, Pooja Pal and about a dozen other MLAs will be on stage.
“I have no message for my opponents. I would just say to them: may Lord Ram keep his blessings upon them too,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Minister Jaiveer Singh described the development as the beginning of a larger political shift, saying that more leaders could join the BJP.
“It is just the beginning; the process will continue. Why is Akhilesh Yadav unsettled already? It has only just begun,” he told ANI in Lucknow.
Vinod Chaturvedi, rebel SP MLA from Kalpi, said that development and faith in the BJP leadership had influenced his decision to join the ruling party.
“If there was no happiness, why would we join? We are joining because there is happiness in our hearts, because of their development and their faith, Modi ji and Yogi ji, who have done a lot for Bundelkhand,” Chaturvedi said.
“Whatever the schemes are, they are equal for everyone. There is no partiality. Everyone will get it, and everyone is getting it. That’s why, being impressed, we are going with them,” he added.
He alleged that successive governments had neglected Bundelkhand for decades, claiming that the Modi and Adityanath governments had undertaken development work in the region over the past nine years.
Chaturvedi also said that the BJP’s welfare schemes were being implemented without discrimination, adding that he was joining the party because he was impressed by its development agenda and the public’s trust in its leadership.
Explaining another reason for his departure from the SP, Chaturvedi referred to the issue of visiting the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“Brother, we are Sanatanis, we believe in God, we have faith in them. When that faith is hurt, there will definitely be a reason,” he said.
On allegations that the Brahmin community was unhappy with the BJP, Chaturvedi rejected the suggestion and argued that Brahmins were respected within the party.
Asked if the BJP would form the government for a third consecutive time, he said, “Definitely, 100%.”
Rakesh Pratap Singh won Gauriganj in 2012, 2017 and 2022, defeating the BJP candidate by 6,963 votes last time. His differences with the SP widened after he voted for the BJP candidate in the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections. The SP expelled him in June 2025, after which he remained an unattached member.
Abhay Singh, first elected in 2012 and again in 2022, defeated Aarti Tiwari, wife of Indra Pratap alias Khabbu Tiwari, by 13,079 votes in 2022. Vinod Chaturvedi won Kalpi in 2007 and 2022, beating Nishad Party’s Chhote Singh by 2,816 votes.
In June 2025, the SP expelled Abhay Singh, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Manoj Kumar Pandey for “communal divisive negativity” and supporting “anti-PDA” ideology. Pandey, who had resigned as SP Chief Whip to cross-vote for the BJP, later joined the party and was inducted as a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government on May 10, 2026.
The latest defections are expected to add to the political contest between the BJP and the SP in Uttar Pradesh, where both parties are seeking to strengthen their positions ahead of 2027 state Assembly elections. (ANI)
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