Former minister and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Ambika Chaudhary is likely to join the Samajwadi Party soon as his resignation was accepted on Sunday. Chaudhary had announced his resignation from the BSP in Ballia on Saturday after his son Anand Chaudhary was declared a Samajwadi Party candidate for district panchayat chairman poll.
The BSP accepted the resignation of Ambika Chaudhary from the primary membership and termed it an act of betrayal. BSP’s zone coordinator Madan Ram said: “Chaudhary’s resignation from the primary membership of the party has been accepted. Directions have been issued not to invite him to party programmes. If he has any morality left in him, he would make his son resign from the post of the zila panchayat member and contest the bypolls,” the BSP leader said, adding that the party would prepare a fresh strategy for the zila panchayat chairman elections.
When asked whether he would join the SP which he had quit in 2016, Chaudhary said, “Ghar wapsi (homecoming) is always pleasant.”
However, the former cabinet minister added that he would make the decision at an appropriate time after consulting his supporters. Chaudhary was a cabinet minister in the Samajwadi Party governments led by Mulayam Singh Yadav (2003-2007) and Akhilesh Yadav. Due to his differences with Akhilesh Yadav, his portfolio was changed and he was shifted from the Revenue department to Backward Caste Welfare department. He resigned from the SP in 2016 and contested the 2017 assembly election as a BSP candidate but lost.
Anand Chaudhary is a zila panchayat member from Ward No. 45 of Ballia and was elected with the support of the BSP. The SP move had triggered a sharp reaction from BSP legislative party’s deputy leader Uma Shankar Singh, who accused Ambika Chaudhary of betrayal. Uma Shankar Singh is the BSP MLA from Ballia. Accusing Chaudhary of backstabbing the BSP, Singh said he indulged in deceit, showing his true nature.