NEW DELHI: Amid a spate of resignations from the BJP, two MLAs of its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) also quit their party Thursday in run-up to the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Chaudhary Amar Singh, the MLA from Shohratgarh seat of Siddharthnagar, told PTI that he has resigned from the party after a meeting with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow this evening.
Singh is likely to contest from Shohratgarh seat on an SP ticket.
Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA RK Verma, who represents the Vishwanath Ganj seat of Pratapgarh, also announced that he is leaving the party.
He told PTI that he will formally resign on Friday and elaborate the reasons why he was quitting the party.
Apna Dal (Sonelal), led by Union minister Anupriya Patel, had contested the 2017 assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. It had fielded candidates on 12 seats and won nine.
The development comes in the backdrop of a spate of resignations from the ruling BJP.
On Thursday, OBC leader Dharam Singh Saini became the third minister to resign from the Uttar Pradesh cabinet this week, giving yet another jolt to the ruling BJP in the run-up to the assembly polls.
Hours before Saini’s resignation, Shikohabad MLA Mukesh Verma announced that he is leaving the BJP.
Most of the eight MLAs, including the ministers, who have declared they are quitting during the last three days are from the Other Backward Classes and appear to be headed towards Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.
Source: Press Trust of India
