'25-26 SP MPs ready to switch sides': After Rajbhar, Keshav Maurya makes big claim

Kanpur: Speaking to the media in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed that 25 to 26 Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs are fully prepared to switch sides and cause a split in the party. Citing the examples of the rifts within the TMC and Shiv Sena, BJP leaders are predicting a similar fracture within the SP.

The Deputy Chief Minister clarified that the BJP is not actively engineering a split in the party right now; rather, these leaders will break away on their own before the 2027 UP Assembly elections. Amidst this political turmoil, statements regarding the Ram Mandir issue have also been made.

'Major split in Samajwadi Party': Big indication in Rajbhar's social media post?

Earlier, a social media post by state government minister Om Prakash Rajbhar caused a stir. Rajbhar wrote that a major split would occur in the Samajwadi Party and claimed that Ram Gopal Yadav had handed over a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Referencing the mining and Gomti Riverfront scams, he stated that the entire state knows the mastermind behind them; he added that the SP is rattled by the tightening of the legal noose and that the entire party is ready to join the BJP. Meanwhile, UP minister Manoj Pandey also remarked that no one wants to stay with the SP today—a party that used to drive people away when it was in power.

What is Samajwadi Party's counter-attack against Rajbhar?

Samajwadi Party leaders have reacted sharply to these claims. Mata Prasad Pandey, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and an SP MLA, stated in Lucknow that Om Prakash Rajbhar is a scam in himself. He alleged that there is a dictatorship in the state and criticized the Chief Minister's language. Meanwhile, SP leader Ravidas Mehrotra called Rajbhar "two-faced," stating that he makes such statements solely to retain his ministerial post. He claimed that not a single SP leader would join the BJP and asserted that an SP government would be formed under Akhilesh Yadav's leadership in 2027. Keshav Maurya speaks on the Ram Mandir donation box theft case

Meanwhile, speaking on the theft from the Ram Mandir donation box in Kanpur, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya remarked that since an investigation into the matter is already underway, there is no need for an FIR. He stated sternly that whoever has misappropriated the donation money will not only face legal punishment but will also never experience happiness in life. He expressed confidence that the entire amount would be recovered once the investigation concludes and that Lord Hanuman would set everything right.