Akhilesh Yadav accuses BJP of ruining lives of youth
The SP chief alleged that paper leaks were orchestrated as the government does not want to provide jobs to the youth.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the BJP of putting pressure on MLAs to switch sides and warned strict action against lawmakers who rebelled during the Rajya Sabha elections.
During the Rajya Sabha elections, four SP MLAs are believed to have cross voted in favour of the BJP. SP chief whip in the state assembly Manoj Kumar Pandey also resigned from the chief whip post with immediate effect without assigning any reason.
Reports say that he is expected to join the BJP soon. Along with Pandey, three other SP MLAs Rakesh Pratap Singh, Abhay Singh and Rakesh Pandey have also gone rebel hours before the voting.
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Reacting to rebellion by the four SP lawmakers, Yadav said, “Not everybody has the guts to stand against the Government…pressure is put on everybody, is there anyone who doesn’t know that BJP would go to any extent to win. BJP was dishonest during Chandigarh elections also… When it comes to UP, BJP did everything to get votes and those who left, might not have had the guts to stand against the govt. Action will be taken because our party leaders want such people to be kept away from the party.”
Besides these four MLAs, two other women legislators of SP — Puja Pal and Pallvi Patel — were reported to be annoyed with the party and they could also cross vote or abstain from voting.
The crucial Rajya Sabha elections began at 9 am with 41 out of 56 candidates already declared victorious due to the absence of opposition.
Polling is being held for 15 Rajya Sabha seats — 10 in Uttar Pradesh, four in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh from 9 am to 4 pm and counting will be held later in the day from 5 pm onwards.
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