“A major split is going to happen in the Samajwadi Party.
Everyone in Uttar Pradesh knows who the mastermind behind the mining scam and Gomti River Front scam is.
The remaining two are Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Ramji Lal Gautam of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP-led alliance commands 290 MLAs.
BSP chief Mayawati has already instructed party leaders to begin preparations for Assembly elections, which, she said, could be held in January.
Forget Maharashtra and Bengal— the entire SP is sitting ready to join the BJP, Rajbhar added in the post.
“A major split is going to happen in the Samajwadi Party. Ram Gopal Yadav has submitted a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji. Everyone in Uttar Pradesh knows who the mastermind behind the mining scam and Gomti River Front scam is. As the noose tightens, the SP is getting anxious,” the post in Hindi stated.
In a cryptic post on X, Rajbhar alleged that senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had approached Centre amid mounting pressure over alleged corruption cases and claimed that several party leaders were preparing to switch sides.
Amid turmoil in West Bengal's Trinamool Congress and buzz of a brewing split in Maharashtra's Shiv Sena (UBT), speculation of a possible split in former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) surfaced on Wednesday after state minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief OP Rajbhar claimed that the opposition party could face a major exodus.
The SP is now firefighting the split speculation blaze, triggered by an Uttar Pradesh minister's big claim and trashed by Samajwadi Party leadership, including Akhilesh Yadav himself.
In Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT ) is also battling speculation of a split with ‘Operation Tiger’ gaining momentum. Operation Tiger is the name given to the alleged attempts by Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to poach Sena (UBT) elected representatives.
In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress has been hit by one of its biggest crises since losing the recent Assembly election to the BJP. The party is facing a twin challenge - a rebellion by MLAs in the state assembly and a revolt by MPs in Parliament.
Split speculation are now haunting the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party after internal turmoil in two major opposition parties in two states — the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by ex-West Bengal CM and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Shiv Sena-UBT) in Maharashtra.
“If the BJP has to be challenged, there should be a team of brave people,” he said.
“If you look at Uttar Pradesh, several SP MLAs, MLCs and even Rajya Sabha members, were poached. There must have been some self-interest, some lure or some fear. People who get scared leave their party,” an earlier HT report quoted Yadav.
He accused the BJP of having a long history of engineering defections in Opposition parties through inducements, fear and pressure.
Addressing the media at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, Yadav said, “The SP remains united. It has weathered many ups and downs in its journey. It is a strong party, and it remains strong. Our people are brave.”
The Samajwadi Party leadership, including supremo Akhilesh Yadav, trashed the claims but acknowledged the need for a brave challenger to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is getting heavier on the political weighing scale with the defections in opposition parties
Addressing reports of political instability, Maurya attributed internal unrest in opposition parties to “dynastic politics, corruption and criminality,” arguing that any resulting fractures are the responsibility of those parties, not the BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Kanpur, Maurya denied that the BJP is attempting to split the Samajwadi Party (SP), stating, “We are not breaking them; by 2027, they will break away on their own.” He criticised SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, suggesting that the party is no longer managed by his inner circle.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed Wednesday that 25 to 26 Samajwadi Party MPs are poised to leave the party ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, while denying that the BJP is attempting to facilitate any defections.
Recalling his earlier statements, Yadav noted that he had no intention of engineering splits in the BJP, but warned that some of the ruling party’s own legislators in Uttar Pradesh showed signs of discontent and might switch sides at the opportune moment.
In a veiled attack on Rajbhar later, without taking his name, Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X, “Those making predictions should clarify whether the BJP is actually offering their party 75 seats, 50, or merely empty assurances. The people who paid them advances — based on rumors they spread about getting 30 seats through an alliance with the BJP — are now looking for them.”
OP Rajbhar shared multiple posts on X since his first claim, with the latest one warning Akhilesh Yadav of what he described as an "entire bundle of files".
“Where is the money from mining and Gomti River Front being squandered? This fact is known not just to Dimple, Ram Gopal Yadav, and Akhilesh Yadav, but also to Om Prakash Rajbhar,” a post by the UP minister on Thursday read.
“If one revelation has left you in this state, I've got the entire bundle of files right here. Why are you trembling, Akhilesh? The moment you open your eyes, they'll hand you the Ballia phone, won't they?” Rajbhar added in his cryptic post.
Buzz of early UP elections The buzz of rebellion in Samajwadi Party comes amid speculation over the possibility of early Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and attention also turning to the biennial elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats and 21 Legislative Council seats that will fall vacant later this year and in early 2027.
The tenure of 10 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh ends on November 25. Eight of them belong to the BJP - Brij Lal, Dinesh Sharma, Geeta Shakya, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Seema Dwivedi, Neeraj Shekhar, Arun Singh and BL Verma. The remaining two are Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Ramji Lal Gautam of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Rajya Sabha members are elected by members of the state Assembly.
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP-led alliance commands 290 MLAs. The SP has 102 legislators, the Congress two, the BSP one, and the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik two. Three MLAs are unattached.
Given its numerical strength, the BJP is well placed to increase its representation in the Rajya Sabha, while the BSP is set to lose its sole presence in the Upper House after Gautam's term ends.
Political observers cited in an earlier HT report believe the BJP would prefer the Rajya Sabha elections to be conducted before the Assembly polls. Such a move could help boost cadre morale by increasing the party's strength in the Upper House and provide an opportunity to accommodate leaders from various caste groups, including OBCs and Dalits, in an effort to counter the SP's PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula.
In the February 2024 Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP secured eight seats - one more than expected - after some SP MLAs reportedly cross-voted in its favour. Observers believe the party may attempt a similar strategy again to weaken the SP's position ahead of the Assembly elections.
Biennial elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats are likely to take place in October, with successful candidates taking oath after the current members complete their tenure in late November, the HT report quoted a senior BJP leader as saying.
The leader noted that elections to the Upper House have previously been held two to three months before the expiry of the sitting members' terms.
The BJP is also believed to favour holding the Legislative Council elections before the Assembly polls. The move could help build momentum for its campaign, maximise its tally in the Council and provide representation to leaders from different caste and social groups through the Vidhan Parishad.
The terms of 11 members elected from graduate and teachers' constituencies will end on December 6. They are Avnish Kumar Singh, Ashutosh Sinha, Man Singh Yadav, Manvendra Pratap Singh, Dinesh Kumar Goyal, Hari Singh Dhillon, Umesh Dwivedi, Dhruv Kumar Tripathi, Lal Bihari Yadav, Srichand Sharma and Akash Agrawal.
The tenure of another 10 Council members will expire on January 30, 2027. They include Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Dharmendra Singh, Swatantra Singh, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ashwani Tyagi, Govind Narayan, Dharmveer Prajapati, Salil Vishnoi and Surendra Chaudhary.
In the 100-member Legislative Council, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) holds 83 seats, including 79 BJP MLCs. The SP has 10 members in the House.
What EC said on early UP elections Officials in the office of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer said they had not received any communication from the Election Commission of India regarding early Assembly polls. However, they said the election machinery would be prepared if such a decision is taken, particularly in view of the second phase of Census work - including population and caste enumeration - scheduled for February 2027.
"If the assembly polls are held in February 2027, government employees from the same pool will have to be deployed for both the poll and census work, leading to a potential shortage of personnel," an officer was quoted as saying.
The final electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of India following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise show 133.9 million (13.39 crore) voters in Uttar Pradesh after 20.4 million (2.04 crore) names were removed. The ECI is currently updating the rolls with the enrolment of new voters.
SP leader Rajendra Chaudhary said his party is ready for an early election and that efforts to strengthen the organisation from the state level down to individual booths are nearing completion.
BSP chief Mayawati has already instructed party leaders to begin preparations for Assembly elections, which, she said, could be held in January.
