Lucknow: Ahead of the upcoming general elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Lok Sabha MP from Ambedkar Nagar Ritesh Pandey on Sunday resigned from the party’s primary membership and joined the BJP in New Delhi.
In his resignation letter to BSP chief Mayawati, Pandey said he has concluded that the party does not need his service as neither has he been called for meetings for a long time nor has the party leadership spoken to him.
He shared his resignation letter on X.
Pandey claimed in his letter that he made numerous efforts to get in touch with and meet Mayawati and the top leadership of the party but it did not yield any result.
“During this time, I continuously met workers and supporters of other parties in my area and was also involved in various works going on in the constituency. Hence, I have concluded that the party does not need my service and presence,” he said.
Pandey added, “So, I do not have any other option apart from resigning from the primary membership of the party. The decision to break the relationship with the party is a difficult decision from an emotional point of view.
Urging Mayawati to accept his resignation letter, he also said, “I stepped into public life through BSP. I got your guidance, the support of the party’s office bearers and the ground-level party workers made me learn how to walk in corridors of politics and society.”
Pandey thanked the party workers and supporters for giving him an opportunity to represent the party in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and in the Lok Sabha.
Later in the day, Pandey joined the BJP in New Delhi in the presence of senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh in-charge Baijayant Jay Panda, national general secretary Tarun Chugh, Uttar Pradesh unit chief Bhupendra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP and party’s national media in-charge Anil Baluni.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak was also among those present.
Welcoming Pandey into the BJP fold, Baluni said a large number of political and social workers want to join the party impressed by its policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
“In this series, a very important personality, Ritesh Pandey, the BSP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha constituency, has joined the BJP today,” Baluni said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
“A strong wind is blowing in favour of Prime Minister Modi,” he added.
Pathak said Pandey has taken a “courageous step” by joining the BJP after seeing the all-round development of the country and wished to contribute to the prime minister’s resolve to make India a developed nation.
“Crores of youths of the country are ready to work with Prime Minister Modi today, accepting him as their leader,” he said.
Pathak said Pandey, a management graduate, dedicated his life to social work apart from studies. “His father Rakesh Pandey, who is a member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, was the Lok Sabha MP from Ambedkar Nagar in the past. While working with him and participating in social activities, Ritesh became popular and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar,” he added.
At the press conference, Pandey thanked the BJP leadership for giving him the party’s primary membership with “a lot of love and respect”.
“I have come forward to work and contribute to Prime Minister Modi’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ under his leadership. I want to thank Nadda Ji for giving me a place in this family. I would also like to thank the home minister of the country who guided me throughout this journey” he said and added that he would work with “full dedication” and help the party achieve its target of winning 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said he is confident that Pandey will carry forward the prime minister’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’.
According to Pandey’s 2019 Lok Sabha election affidavit, he has a BA in International Business Studies from European Business School, London in 2005. In 2017, he became an MLA from the Jalalpur assembly constituency in Ambedkarnagar.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Ritesh Pandey, on a BSP ticket, defeated the BJP’s Mukut Bihari Verma who was then a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government.
