Delhi polls aftermath: BJP will ‘assess’ situation, outsiders before induction

BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai on Wednesday said the party will not compromise with respect and sentiments of BJP workers.

In a clear sign of taking lessons from the BJP’s rout in Delhi Assembly elections, the party’s UP unit has decided to exercise caution while inducting leaders of other parties in the saffron fold reportedly to avoid resentment among its workers and leaders. Directions have been sent out to heads of district units to not allow such joining at local level until the state leaders have assessed the probables.

BJP state president Laxmikant Bajpai on Wednesday said the party will not compromise with respect and sentiments of BJP workers in inducting leaders of other parties and no assurance of ticket will be given to the newly-elected. The ban on joining of other party leaders will be strictly implemented, he said, adding the process of joining would only be allowed after assessing the need for that particular area where organisation is found weak.

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Sources in the state unit said the “strict checking” comes in the light of BJP’s poor performance in Delhi polls where several leaders of other parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had joined BJP during and before the polls, leading to resentment among party workers there.

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In Lucknow, too, several BSP leaders have switched allegiance to BJP during the past one month.

Among the prominent BSP faces who joined BJP include former MPs Ganga Charan Rajput and Dara Singh Chauhan; former MLAs Aditya Pandey, Bhagwan Pathak and Anant Vikram Singh; BSP’s Delhi general secretary Anil Srivastava; MLC Hargovind Singh; and its Rajya Sabha member Jugul Kishore’s wife.

Congress saw defection from its former Lucknow University student union president Bajrangi Singh and son of MP Sanjay Sinh. Both joined BJP in December last year.