Defection Wave: Rakesh Pratap Singh and Colleagues Enroll in BJP

Lucknow, October 14 – In a high‑profile political shift, three Uttar Pradesh legislators who had turned dissenters within the Samajwadi Party (SP) officially became members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.

The new BJP members are: • Rakesh Pratap Singh – MLA from Gaureiganj, Amethi district • Abhay Singh – MLA from Gosaiganj, Ayodhya district • Vinod Chaturvedi – MLA from Kalpi, Jalaun district

The ceremony took place at Singh’s residence on Jamho Road in Gaureiganj, where BJP state president Pankaj Chaudhary and national general secretary Smriti Irani handed over membership cards and draped the leaders with the party’s saffron scarf.

Senior BJP figures, including state minister Dara Singh Chauhan and the national president of the Backward Classes Front, Amarpal Maurya, were present. The three legislators also completed the formal enrollment by calling the party’s toll‑free number, confirming their new affiliation.

Following the event, Rakesh Pratap Singh thanked his supporters, claiming that nearly 98 percent of grassroots workers in his constituency had asked him to join the BJP. He further projected that about a thousand current and former local representatives would switch allegiance along with him. These numbers are yet to be independently corroborated.

Singh entered politics with the SP in 2012, winning the Gaureiganj seat and retaining it in the 2017 and 2022 elections. Over recent years, his ties with the SP leadership frayed: he voted for the BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate in 2024, campaigned for Smriti Irani in the 2024 Lok Sabha race from Amethi, and was expelled from the SP in June 2025 after openly disagreeing on religious and ideological issues.

The defection comes at a crucial juncture as parties gear up for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Analysts will watch how Singh’s personal vote bank and the network of local functionaries he brings to the BJP influence the party’s grassroots outreach, especially in Gaureiganj. Meanwhile, the SP faces the task of retaining its core supporters and rebuilding its organization in the three constituencies now under BJP’s influence.