Amid defections from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party (SP) saying that their MLAs are either in jail or on bail.

Lashing out at the defectors, the Union Minister said those who are joining the Samajwadi Party do riots, while people joining the saffron party catch the rioters.

“People joining SP do riots, people joining BJP catch rioters. SP MLAs are either in jail or on bail, that’s their original game. It’s clear people with clean characters join BJP, and rioters including many with blood-covered hands join SP,” ANI quoted Thakur as saying in Lucknow.

“If you see MLA Nahid Hasan (SP candidate from Kairana), he is SP’s candidate number one. He is in jail. The second MLA is Abdullah Azam, who is on bail. If you see the list of SP candidates, it starts from the one in jail and ends with the one on bail. The game of jail-bail is the real ‘khel’ (game) of the Samajwadi Party,” the Union Minister added.

Ex-UP minister  Dara Singh Chauhan joins SP

His remarks came hours after former Uttar Pradesh minister and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. 

Besides Chauhan, Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA from Vishvanathganj Assembly constituency in Pratapgarh district R K Verma too joined the SP which has emerged as the main challenger to the BJP in the state.

Earlier on Friday, former ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini, five BJP MLAs, and one from the Apna Dal (Sonelal) had crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.

The development came as a big setback for the ruling party ahead of the upcoming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, while the last phase of polling will be conducted on March 7. The main contest is seen between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP).