Anil Kumar Singh declared that he had cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has suspended one of the lawmakers of her party after he openly declared yesterday that he voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections. Mayawati's party was defeated by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party win two parliamentary seats in the recent bypolls. Addressing the media this evening, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said her party's partnership with the Samajwadi Party remains intact despite her party candidate's loss in the Rajya.
After casting his vote on Friday, Uttar Pradesh lawmaker Anil Kumar Singh, 37, said that he had cross-voted. "I am with
Maharaj-ji (Yogi Adityanath)," he said.
A BJP-backed candidate, Anil Aggarwal, defeated the BSP's Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Friday's elections. The BJP now has nine more Rajya Sabha seats from UP and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has taken one seat for its candidate Jaya Bachchan.
On Thursday night, Anil Kumar Singh, a lawmaker from Unnao, attended Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's dinner for BJP legislators right after he attended party boss Mayawati's dinner at her home.
"I did what I had to," he told NDTV on Friday.