Former MP Budh Sen Patel, ex-BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi, and Congress member Laxman Ahirwar joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday. Their decision to join the BSP was influenced by BSP chief Mayawati's leadership, stated state party head Ramakant Pippal after their induction into the party-fold. Patel, Tripathi, and Ahirwar are being considered for the BSP's ticket in Rewa, Satna, and Tikamgarh parliamentary constituencies, respectively, sources added.
Regarding their chances of contesting the elections as BSP candidates, Pippal mentioned, "Mayawatiji takes such calls. I can't comment on the matter." He also stated that the BSP will soon announce its nominees for all the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP. Patel, who previously won the assembly election from Rewa and the Lok Sabha poll from Rewa in 1993 and 1996, respectively, as the BSP nominee, later joined the BJP. Before the 2023 assembly elections, he joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of K Chandrashekar Rao, which Pippal described as "Patel's homecoming."
Tripathi, a four-time MLA, once served as an independent MLA and later represented the Samajwadi Party, Congress, and BJP. He quit the BJP in October last year and formed his political outfit, Vindh Janata Party, which contested the 2023 MP assembly polls unsuccessfully. Tripathi, a Brahmin leader from Vindh, lost the assembly polls from Maihar seat in Satna district last year.
Laxman Ahirwar, the son of late Nathuram Ahirwar, who served as the Congress MP from Khajuraho seat from 1966 to 1977 and also held a ministerial position in Madhya Pradesh, is also among the new BSP members. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BSP failed to secure any seats, and it also did not win any seats in the 230-member MP assembly elections held last November. The elections for the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP will take place in four phases from April 19 to May 13, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.
