BSP MP Ritesh Pandey from Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh resigned from the primary membership of the party on Sunday.

A few hours after his resignation, he joined the BJP in presence of UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Choudhary.

After announcing his resignation, Pandey made many serious allegations against the BSP.

He was among the nine MPs who had lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Parliament House during the Budget session of Parliament.

In his letter to BSP chief Mayawati, Pandey wrote the party provided him the opportunity to represent in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha, adding that the party also gave him the opportunity to work as the leader of the parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha.

Making serious allegations against the party, the MP said, ”For a long time, I have neither been called to party meetings nor been communicated with at the leadership level. I have made numerous attempts to contact you
(Mayawati) and to meet top officials, but it did not yield any result. During this period, I continued to meet party workers and supporters in my area and elsewhere and remained engaged in area work.”

“In such a situation, I have come to the conclusion that the party no longer needs my service and presence, hence I have no option but to resign from the primary membership of the party. This decision to break ties with the party is an emotionally difficult decision,” he said in his letter shared on X.

Pandey requested that his resignation be accepted with immediate effect.

In the last assembly elections in 2022, Ritesh’s father, former MP Rakesh Pandey, had left the BSP and joined the SP. He was also elected MLA from Jalalpur on SP ticket. After this incident, the BSP chief was annoyed with Ritesh Pandey. He was removed from the post of parliamentary party leader of the party. The result was that he distanced himself from party programmes.

Meanwhile, Mayawati has reacted to Ritesh Pandey’s decision to leave the party. Without taking names, she wrote on social media that, “Have you met the criteria of BSP? Have you paid attention to your Lok Sabha constituency? Did you devote all your time to the field? Did you properly follow the instructions given by the party from time to time? ”
She added, “In such a situation, is it possible to give tickets to most of the Lok Sabha MPs, especially when they are seen wandering here and there in their interests and are in negative news? It is unfair for the media to publicise this as a weakness of the party despite knowing all this. The interest of the BSP is paramount.”