Another SP MLC resigns from UP Council in BJP favour, more to follow

In yet another jolt to the Samajwadi Party (SP), one more of its member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative council on Friday resigned from the house.
 
SP MLC Dr Sarojini Agarwal, who was considered to be close to senior SP leader and former UP minister Azam Khan, quit her membership of the house and joined the BJP.
 
Though Agarwal said that she had resigned from the SP as she felt ''suffocated'' there following removal of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav from the post of national president, sources said that the resignation was to pave the way for one of the BJP ministers, who was not member of either of the houses, to get elected to the council.
 
Agarwal's resignation comes within days of the resignations by two SP and one BSP MLCs from the membership of the house.
 
''More SP and BSP MLCs will resign in the days to come,'' remarked a senior BJP leader as Agarwal joined the saffron party here in the presence of senior leaders of BJP.
 
Earlier SP MLCs Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh, who was a close confidante of controversial independent legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, and BSP MLC Thakur Jaiveer Singh had resigned from the house and joined the saffron party.
 
At present five BJP ministers, including UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the two deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya, were neither member of the Vidhan Sabha nor the council. After the spate of resignations, now at least four of them could get elected to the council.
 
BJP sources said that the saffron party did not want any of these ministers, including the chief minister, to contest assembly polls and opt for the safe route of the council.
 
SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav said that he was not perturbed by the resignations. ''SP will emerge stronger after the exit of such leaders,'' he said.