New Delhi, 17 June—Deflecting the BJP’s attempt to drive panic in the opposition INDIA camp after its seemingly successful venture in splitting the TMC and Udhav Thackray led Shiv Seba, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday gave a spirited response to UP Minister OP Rajbhar’s claim that a major split is going to happen in the SP.
“Dana aur gana kab tak chalega yeh afsana,” Akhilesh told reporters. While the SP chief didn’t clarify his remarks, which roughly translates to – “How long will this song and dance continue? It’s all just a recurring tale…”
Dismissing Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar’s claim of an impending split in the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the party remained strong and it was the BJP which had a history of “engineering” defections through inducements and pressure
The SP supremo’s response came hours after Rajbhar claimed that senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav is in touch with Home Minister Amit Shah.
“A major split is going to happen in the Samajwadi Party. Ram Gopal Yadav has submitted a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji,” Rajbhar said on X.
Rajbhar went on to add that “everyone in Uttar Pradesh knows who the mastermind behind the mining scam and Gomti River Front scam is and as the noose tightens, the SP is getting anxious.”
“Forget Maharashtra and Bengal– the entire SP is sitting ready to join the BJP,” he concluded.
This comes amid the ongoing political crisis in the two major regional Opposition parties – Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
While 20 MPs of the Trinamool Congress, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and Saayoni Ghosh, have merged with a little known Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India, there is a strong buzz of several Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs switching sides.
According to Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Sanjay Raut, certain Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs have offered Rs 50 crore each to switch sides under “Operation Tiger”.
Raut is in Delhi and the Shiv Sena (UBT) has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to not recognise the rebels as a separate bloc
Veteran Journalist and Political Commentator
