BJP sources said the party is in no mood to allow the opposition, essentially the Samajwadi Party, to gain traction through large-scale poaching.
Sources said the party has already sent broad signals to most of the sitting MLAs about retaining their candidature – a move that could prevent defection in the opposition camp.
Buoyed by the popularity of PM Narendra Modi, the BJP had adopted a strategy of inducting influential office-bearers from the rival camp.
The trick came in handy just before the 2017 assembly elections, when several prominent opposition leaders, especially Mayawati’s BSP and Congress, switched allegiance to the BJP, sweeping it to power with an overwhelming majority.
It included Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini, Brijesh Pathak and Rita Bahuguna Joshi,
Actually, BJP had started implementing the same strategy before the 2022 assembly elections. It previously included Congress leader and former Union minister Jitin Prasada and Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh.
BJP also brought in SP Saidpur MLA Subhash Pasi and BSP MLA Vandana Singh from Sagri.
During this, a dedicated ‘Prerna Samiti’ headed by former state party chief Laxmikant Bajpai continued to work overtime.
In fact, the party is sabotaging its rival’s foundation by bringing grassroots functionaries and former MLAs to the saffron fold.
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Analysts believe that the SP ranks are closely watching the BJP in the opposition camp, who adopted the same strategy to hit back at the saffron outfit.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led political outfit, which is projecting itself as the BJP’s formidable rival, was the first to defeat Sitapur MLA Rakesh Rathore, who has been restless for the past several months.
But BJP fixed the score by including SP’s Saidpur MLA Subhash Pasi in its camp.
A furious SP leader has now become fully active by focusing on BJP MLAs looking for alternative political pastures in case they are denied tickets ahead of the UP elections.
This became clear after Avtar Singh Bhadana, the BJP MLA from Mirpur in Muzaffarnagar, joined the RLD, an ally of the SP.
The BJP in retaliation included Hari Om Yadav, the SP MLA from Sirsaganj in Firozabad, who was seen as the BJP’s counter to Akhilesh in the Yadav belt.
A senior BJP leader said, in 2017 the party had reached saturation point by winning 312 seats. “It is the opposition which has enough room for political maneuvering,” he said. Political analysts said, the coming together of SP and BSP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and then their split – claimed by BSP chief Mayawati that the SP vote-bank was not transferred to her party – was part of the same political exploits.
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