The state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has criticised the Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party for raking up the issue of horse-trading in the legislative council elections slated for January 23 and held the SP and BSP responsible for the elections. “BSP and the SP were responsible for council polls as they were the first to give additional candidates which forced us to give one more candidate,” said BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak here.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday Pathak said that several MlAs of other parties have assured support to the second BJP candidate. “Our party does not believe in horse trading. We had fielded a second candidate only after getting assurance from other parties,” he said. Earlier the SP and Congress leaders blamed the BJP for horse-trading in the council polls. The parties claim that BJP leaders were trying to purchase votes for their second candidates,
“Congress has assured support to SP. The SP requires just eight more votes for its eighth candidate and the Congress has 28 members. The other members would be voting for the BJP candidate,” he said hinting that the third BSP candidate could face the heat as several BSP MlAs could also go against the party candidate.
“These political parties are just blaming the BJP on all the issues just to protect their own lapses,” he said. For 12 council seats, 13 candidates are in the fray includes eight from SP, three from the BSP and two from the BJP.