Three Samajwadi Party rebel MLAs, Rakesh Pratap Singh from Gauriganj in Amethi, Abhay Singh from Gosaiganj and Vinod Chaturvedi from Kalpi , Three Samajwadi Party (SP) rebel MLAs joined the BJP in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi on Wednesday, ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with BJP leaders targeting the Congress and SP over dynastic and caste-based politics.
The MLAs — Rakesh Pratap Singh from Gauriganj, Abhay Singh from Gosaiganj and Vinod Chaturvedi from Kalpi, joined the BJP at a membership programme in Gauriganj in the presence of Union Minister and Uttar Pradesh BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary and party national general secretary Smriti Irani.
The defections come amid political contestation in Amethi, a traditional Congress stronghold where Irani defeated then Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She lost the seat in 2024 to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, a longtime Gandhi family loyalist.
Addressing the programme, Irani accused the Congress of creating an atmosphere of anarchy by targeting the Election Commission and attempting to undermine democracy. She alleged that the party wanted to make its "Yuvraj" a "Shehanshah" and claimed that bringing together several opposition parties would not help it succeed.
"The Gandhi family does not have the courage to contest elections alone in Amethi and has to take the support of the Samajwadi Party," Irani said. She also noted that the Congress had lost nine consecutive elections in Uttar Pradesh, where it has not been in power since 1989.
"The BJP's every worker is ready to give a befitting reply to attempts to undermine democracy," she said, accusing the Congress of using the Election Commission as a political tool.
Chaudhary said the BJP would secure a decisive victory in the 2027 Assembly elections and form the government in Uttar Pradesh for a third consecutive term. He asserted that India did not belong to any individual or family and claimed that caste-based and dynastic politics was on the decline.
The three MLAs had joined the BJP because they felt 'suffocated' in their previous political environment, Chaudhary said. Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he alleged that Gandhi's statements abroad damaged India's image. He also said the state government's resources would remain available for the development of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
BJP MP and OBC Morcha national president Amar Pal Maurya accused SP president Akhilesh Yadav of abandoning the socialist ideals associated with Ram Manohar Lohia and Mulayam Singh Yadav, alleging that the party was more concerned about the Yadav family than society.
The three leaders cited differences with the SP and their support for the BJP's development agenda as reasons for switching parties.
Rakesh Pratap Singh said he had won the Gauriganj Assembly seat three consecutive times on an SP ticket and had now joined the BJP to ensure its victory in the constituency. He won the seat in 2012, 2017 and 2022, defeating BJP candidate Chandra Prakash Mishra, known as Matiyari, by 6,963 votes in the last election.
His differences with the SP leadership widened after he voted for the BJP candidate in the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections. The party expelled him and Abhay Singh in June 2025, after which they remained unattached MLAs.
Abhay Singh said he left the SP following the controversy over the Ramcharitmanas and what he described as the party leadership's failure to oppose the alleged insult to Lord Ram. He claimed he would ensure the SP candidate's defeat by a huge margin in the 2027 Assembly elections.
Chaturvedi cited development work in Bundelkhand under the Modi and Yogi governments and his opposition to what he described as the SP's caste-based politics.
The programme also served as a show of strength for Rakesh Pratap Singh, with a large crowd gathering at the venue. State ministers Daya Shankar Singh, Krishna Paswan, Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dinesh Singh, former Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and other BJP leaders were present.
(With PTI inputs)
