Akhilesh accuses BJP of 'political corruption' as SP MLCs quit

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and accused it of "political corruption" for its attempts to wean lawmakers away from his party.

Reacting sharply to the resignation of three SP Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) earlier in the day and reports of their joining the BJP, Yadav said he would not stop any of these members from quitting the party.

He, however, said before taking the decision, the lawmakers did not discuss their grouses, if any, with him.

"People like Bukkal Nawab fed me with 'sinwai' on Eid not long ago and now are ready to embrace the BJP... What can I say," he mused, adding that once he landed up in jail, he would visit Nawab and ask him for sure on why he quit the SP, which gave him so much. 

He also questioned the BJP as to why it had to engineer these defections from the upper House.

The former Chief Minister also indicated that the resignations of these three SP members had been taken to ensure a smooth entry of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his two deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma into the assembly before the deadline of six months. 

"The BJP," he added, "must clarify why it was not willing to go for a direct election and get its leaders elected through the Vidhan Sabha route?" - IANS