A total of 30 turncoats are in fray in phase seven of the Lok Sabha polls – 11 in the BJP, seven in the Aam Aadmi Party, eight in the Congress, and two each in the Biju Janata Dal and the Shiromani Akali Dal.
The turncoats count is highest in Punjab at 20, followed by three in Uttar Pradesh, two each in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, and one is Bihar. There are no turncoats in this phase in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
In Punjab, the most defections were recorded in the Congress party, while two TMC leaders joined the BJP in West Bengal. Both the BJP and the Congress have fielded one turncoat each in Jharkhand. The two national parties are depending on their loyalists in Odisha, while the regional BJD has imported one candidate each from BJP and Congress.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has fielded three turncoats and one is in fray from the BJP, while the lone defector in fray in Bihar in this phase is in the grand old party. Let’s take a look at the turncoats in fray in the two backward states.
Neeraj Shekhar Singh: Former PM’s son, Rajya Sabha MP
Neeraj Shekhar Singh is contesting from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh on the BJP’s ticket.
The 55-year-old is a three-time MP, formerly with the Samajwadi Party, and the son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekar. He entered politics after his father’s death in 2007, contesting from his native Ballia – known as his father’s bastion – on an SP ticket in the bypolls. Two years later, he again secured the seat in the 2009 polls.
In the 2014 polls, Singh lost the seat to the BJP’s Bharat Singh. He was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha, with widespread support from even the CPIM and the BJP’s Rajnath Singh, besides the SP.
In 2019, the SP denied him a Lok Sabha ticket. About four months later, Singh quit the party and crossed over to the BJP, saying that the support Modi had received in the polls had “convinced” him that he should work under Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah if he wished to “work in the national interest…The country is convinced that it is safe under them.” It was the year of the Pulwama attack.
Less than a year ago, Singh had emphasised that it is “important to educate” those fed up with the Modi government that this government “likes to talk about itself only, its own Mann Ki Baat and does not care to hear others”.
Now, Singh’s social media is filled with posts asking to vote for the BJP, along with pictures of Modi and Yogi Aditynath.
His current assets stand at Rs 13.03 crore – an 86 percent increase from 2014. As per his affidavit, Singh is a graduate from Delhi University and “social service” and his MP pension are his only source of income. He has no pending criminal cases.
Sadal Prasad: Former BSP minister, two-time MLA
Sadal Prasad is the Congress candidate from the reserved constituency of Bansgaon in Uttar Pradesh. The 67-year-old began his political career with the Bahujan Samaj Party and rose to become a cabinet minister in Mayawati’s government.
In the 2014 and the 2019 polls, he lost from Bansgaon to the BJP’s Kamlesh Pasvan. He snapped his two-decade ties with the BSP in March this year and is set to lock horns with Pasvan for the third time, but on a Congress ticket instead.
With a Masters in political science from Gorakhpur University, Prasad’s only income is his MP pension. He has assets worth Rs 1.18 crore, up by 35 percent compared to 2019. He has no pending criminal cases, as per his affidavit. He is not active on social media.
Ramesh Bind: Pulwama connection, hurting religious sentiments case
Ramesh Chand Bind is the Samajwadi Party’s candidate from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. But until weeks before the polls, the 50-year-old politician was with the BJP. He crossed over to the Akhilesh Yadav party along with Rajendra Bind, who was also allegedly vying for the Mirzapur ticket.
The three-time MLA – securing the Majhawan assembly seat in 2002, 2007 and 2012 – belongs to the Mallah community and began his political career with the Bahujan Samaj Party. He remained with the Mayawati-led party till 2019, when he was expelled for “anti-party activities”.
Following his ouster, a video widely circulated on social media showed Bind saying that Mayawati expelled him “because he discussed the Pulwama attack incident at the party headquarter”. Less than a month later, he joined the BJP and subsequently won the Bhadohi seat.
Notably, Bind’s Pulwama video was not the only one that went viral. Amid the 2019 polls, his allegedly inflammatory video against the Brahmin community also went viral. A case was lodged against the politician for hurting religious sentiments. While Bind said that the video was “doctored”, the case is still pending.
As per his affidavit, Bind has studied till class 9 and is a farmer by occupation. He has assets worth Rs 11.73 crore, up by 24 percent in 2019.
Manoj Kumar Bharti: Minor’s sexual assault case, Cong loyalist’s son
Manoj Kumar Bharti is the Congress candidate from Bihar’s Sasaram. The 40-year-old entered politics in 2017 with the Vikasheel Insaan Party. Two years later, he contested from Sasaram with a BSP ticket. Ahead of the ongoing polls, Bharti again jumped ship to the Congress and got a Lok Sabha ticket.
Notably, Bharti’s mother Yoshada Devi is a Congress loyalist and also served as the head of the party’s Rohtas and Kampoor women Cell.
There are two pending criminal cases against Bharti, one connected to the sexual assault and harassment of a minor girl. His son Ujjawal Kumar has been arrested in the case. Meanwhile, reports said that the victim and her mother recently held a press conference backtracking on the case.
The politician’s source of income is farming, while his wife is a nurse. He has assets worth Rs 3.24 crore – 266 percent higher from 2019.
Five independent media outlets are coming together to bring the sharpest insights on results day. Here's how you can contribute.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
