NEW DELHI: BJP has outwitted its rivals in attracting high-profile defectors from other parties ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh where it is pulling out all stops to bounce back to power after 15 years in political wilderness. While there has been movement of leaders, including MLAs, from BJP to other parties too, it is the saffron ranks which have swelled the most with new inductions. Two most high-profile defections to BJP have been those of the incumbent Leader of Opposition and senior BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya and former state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi. Six MLAs, three from Congress, two from BSP and one from SP, had joined BJP in Lucknow on August 11. Out of power in the state since 2002, BJP had seen a steady outflow of local satraps to other parties as it was knocked out of reckoning in subsequent elections.

Source: Economic Times October 23, 2016 06:22 UTC