Jolt to Akhilesh Yadav, three Samajwadi Party MLCs resign from party

Lucknow: In a jolt to Akhilesh Yadav, three Samajwadi Party MLCs resigned from the party on Saturday.

The three lawmakers - Yashwant Singh, Bukkal Nawab and Madhukar Jaitley -- all are members of the Upper House of the state Assembly.

Nawab, who is the founder of Rashtriya Shia Samaj, heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"I am feeling very suffocated since last one-year. It is clear that when he (Akhilesh) is not with his own father then how can he be with the people," Nawab told ANI.

Nawab expressed his willingness to join the BJP.

The Rashtriya Shia Samaj founder further said that some people may resign from the SP soon.

Bukkal Nawab was very close to former party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and owed his prominence to him until he decided to side with then CM Akhilesh Yadav in the turf war within the party earlier this year.

Madhukar Jaitley is also a close aide of Mulayam Yadav,

Yashwant Singh is considered to be close to Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias `Raja Bhaiyya`. There is speculation that he may switch to the BJP.

Reacting to the political development, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav blamed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the resignations from his party leaders.

"BJP is indulging in political corruption from Bihar to UP. People are watching everything," said.

The resignations from the SP coincided with the arrival of BJP president Amit Shah in the state capital on a three-day visit to interact with party leaders.