BJP Inducts Three Rebel Samajwadi Party MLAs at Amethi Gathering

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held an induction event in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh, formally bringing three rebel Samajwadi Party (SP) legislators into its fold. Former Union Minister and former Amethi MP Smriti Irani attended the event alongside multiple senior leaders, state ministers, and party office-bearers.

The three MLAs—Rakesh Pratap Singh from Gauriganj, Abhay Singh from Gosaiganj, and Vinod Chaturvedi from Kalpi—were among the seven SP legislators who cross-voted during the February 2024 Rajya Sabha elections. Among their respective seats, only the Gauriganj constituency falls within the geographical boundary of the Amethi parliamentary seat.

Venue Choice and Prominent Leaders Present

While the BJP traditionally conducts key party induction ceremonies at its state headquarters in Lucknow or its national office in New Delhi, the party organized this gathering in Gauriganj. To join the venue in Amethi, Kalpi MLA Vinod Chaturvedi traveled approximately 250 kilometers with his supporters, while Gosaiganj MLA Abhay Singh traveled over 100 kilometers.

The event was attended by BJP National General Secretary Smriti Irani, Union Minister and Uttar Pradesh BJP Chief Pankaj Chaudhary, Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh, Muzaffarnagar MP and former Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, and the party's OBC Morcha national president Amar Pal Maurya. Several state ministers were also present, including Dinesh Pratap Singh, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dayashankar Singh, Pratibha Shukla, and Krishna Paswan.

Addressing the gathering, Irani addressed the presence of Balyan, a leader from western Uttar Pradesh, explaining that during his tenure as Union minister, he had ensured the supply and availability of fertilizers in Gauriganj at her request. She also stated that 40 villages in Amethi received electricity connections for the first time after Independence under the Narendra Modi-led government.

Smriti Irani Targets Congress and Outlines Local Development

Smriti Irani remarked that the 2024 election results in Amethi would remain a topic of political discussion and study. She stated that a significant number of closed industrial units in Amethi were reopened after she was elected as the constituency's Member of Parliament in 2019.

Directing criticisms at the Congress leadership without explicitly naming Rahul Gandhi, Irani questioned how the Congress leadership could aim to lead the country if it could not contest elections independently in Amethi. She remarked that despite forming coalitions with various political parties, the Congress has repeatedly lost Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh since 1989 and is now raising allegations against the Election Commission instead of reflecting on those losses.

UP BJP Chief Pankaj Chaudhary stated that Amethi and Rae Bareli are not the family property of any political dynasty. He claimed that during her five years as MP, Irani visited every village in the constituency, arguing that her work surpassed what the Congress delivered over six decades.

Political Context and Electoral Dynamics

Responding to the move, BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi stated that the event signals the party's commitment to contesting and winning in traditional Congress strongholds like Amethi and Rae Bareli, adding that the development will influence upcoming political dynamics in both the Kashi and Awadh regions.

The electoral history of the region highlights shifting margins across recent parliamentary polls:

• In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi defeated Smriti Irani in Amethi by 1.08 lakh votes, maintaining a lead of 22,364 votes in the Gauriganj assembly segment.
• In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by approximately 55,000 votes, securing a lead of 19,973 votes in Gauriganj.
• In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi contested from neighboring Rae Bareli, while Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma defeated Irani in Amethi by 1.67 lakh votes, leading by 33,378 votes in Gauriganj.

The party's event comes amid regional political shifts in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for 2027. Last month, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav launched his party's statewide "PDA Rath Yatra" from Rae Bareli to consolidate backward classes, Dalits, and minority communities.