BSP alleges ruling party trying to poach its lone MLA in Bihar
BSP's lone MLA in Bihar faces pressure to defect amid past party-switching trends, despite firm refusals to join the ruling coalition.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is facing the threat of losing its lone MLA in Bihar. The party contested the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections on its own and won only the Ramgarh seat in Kaimur district. Satish Kumar Singh, alias Pintu Yadav, became the MLA after defeating BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh by just 30 votes. The BSP received support from Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM on this seat.
The BSP on Wednesday held a state-level meeting in Patna, in the presence of the party’s national convener Akash Anand, at the Maharaja Complex to review its performance in the 2025 assembly elections.
On this occasion, the party’s Bihar in-charge, Anil Kumar, alleged that several inducements were being offered to the BSP’s lone MLA, but insisted he would not defect. He did not, however, name any party or leader.
Party national coordinator and Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam told HT that Ramgarh MLA Satish Kumar Singh had been receiving phone calls from leaders of the ruling coalition, urging him to join them, but he had firmly refused to switch sides.
In Bihar, BSP MLAs and candidates have a long history of switching parties. In the 2020 assembly elections, Md Jama Khan, the BSP’s lone MLA from Chainpur, joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU after winning the election and was appointed minority welfare minister. This time, he has again become a cabinet minister after winning on a JDU ticket.
Before Khan, Brij Kishore Bind, the BSP candidate from Chainpur, also defected. He joined the BJP, won on a BJP ticket in 2009, 2010 and 2015, and went on to become a cabinet minister. After being denied a BJP ticket from Chainpur in the recent assembly elections, he contested on an RJD ticket and finished second, losing to JDU’s Md Jama Khan.
Earlier, Suresh Pasi, who won from Mohania on a BSP ticket, and Ramchandra Singh Yadav, who won from Bhabua, had also defected and joined the RJD and Samajwadi Party respectively.
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Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) risks losing its only MLA in Bihar, Satish Kumar Singh, who narrowly won the Ramgarh seat in the 2025 elections. Despite attempts from ruling coalition leaders to entice him, Singh remains committed to the BSP. Historically, BSP MLAs have switched parties, raising concerns for the party’s stability in Bihar.