Decode Politics: As BSP MP Ritesh Pandey resigns, why Mayawati may be facing an exodus from her party

With the Lok Sabha elections inching closer, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has trouble in its hands as party MPs believe their re-election chances are in jeopardy over the party’s decision not to join any of the alliances in Uttar Pradesh and its general absence from the buzz around the coming elections.

On Sunday, BSP’s Ambedknagar MP Ritesh Pandey resigned from the party, alleging neglect, and joined the BJP in New Delhi. “For a long time, I have not been called to party meetings and the leadership is also not communicating with me. I made several attempts to contact and meet you and other top office-bearers but got no results. During this period, I kept meeting the public and workers and continued working in the constituency. I have concluded that the party does not need my service and presence anymore,” Pandey wrote in his resignation letter.

The BSP’s troubles don’t end with just Pandey. Its Jaunpur MP Shyam Singh Yadav is set to participate in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Agra days after BSP MP Danish Ali, who the party has suspended, joined the yatra in Amroha. Yadav had participated in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022 in his personal capacity and last year appealed to parties, including his own, to unite against the BJP.

With Mayawati inaccessible, the MPs are unsure if they will receive tickets this time. Of the 10 BSP MPs elected in 2019, Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari has received the Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket from the seat while Danish Ali is believed to be on the cusp of joining the Congress after attending the launch of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur and participating in it in Amroha.

Sources said the MPs had not been contacted yet by the party leadership to join the poll