In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) saw 10 MPs get elected on its tickets. The run-up to the 2024 General Election, however, appears to be more like a countdown of their diminishing numbers as many of these MPs are looking for and securing different political options.
BSP MP Ritesh Pandey’s defection to the BJP on February 25 afternoon is actually part of a continuum of BSP MPs looking elsewhere for political refuge, with Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari already securing the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) ticket for the seat.
On Sunday itself, Shyam Singh Yadav, BSP MP from Jaunpur participated in the Congress-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was also present. While Mr. Shyam Singh Yadav said on record that he considered the yatra an apolitical venture, there is talk that he met with Mr. Akhilesh Yadav before the yatra, and that he may secure a ticket for himself from the SP.
