Amidst the electoral hubbub in Lucknow, Manoj Kumar Pandey, an MLA from the Samajwadi Party, tendered his resignation as the party’s chief whip. This dramatic decision transpired a day after his conspicuous absence from a crucial meeting convened by party luminary Akhilesh Yadav, centered around the impending Rajya Sabha elections. The ongoing ballot spectacle in Uttar Pradesh showcased ten Rajya Sabha seats, with the BJP fielding eight candidates and the Samajwadi Party vying with three contenders.
Expressing his decision in a missive to Yadav, Pandey, the political stalwart representing the Unchahar constituency in Raebareli, stated, “Your designation of me as the chief whip for the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly prompts my resignation from said position. I humbly request you to acknowledge my resignation.” Pandey, a former cabinet minister in Akhilesh Yadav’s prior government, added a layer of complexity to the unfolding political drama.
The preceding day’s assembly witnessed the conspicuous absence of eight SP MLAs from the meeting orchestrated by Yadav. An anonymous senior SP figure disclosed that the purpose of the gathering was to apprise the MLAs about the intricacies of the Rajya Sabha election’s voting procedures.
Regrettably, Pandey, along with seven other MLAs—Mukesh Verma, Maharaji Prajapati, Pooja Pal, Rakesh Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, Rakesh Pratap Singh, and Abhay Singh—chose not to grace the meeting with their presence. Responding to the matter, SP’s national spokesperson, Rajendra Chaudhary, conceded that eight MLAs abstained from both the dinner and the meeting convened by Yadav. However, Chaudhary abstained from divulging the identities of these dissenting MLAs.