MEERUT/ BAREILLY: The wife and sister of Samajwadi Party's Bisauli MLA Ashutosh Maurya are set to campaign for BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Sushma Maurya, the MLA's wife, and Madhu Chandra, his sister, joined the ruling party two days ago in the presence of UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak in Lucknow.
Incidentally, Bisauli is part of Budaun Lok Sabha constituency from where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's uncle Shivpal Yadav is pitted against BJP's Durvijay Singh Shakya.
Speculations rife over MLA indirectly supporting BJP Ashutosh Maurya told TOI on Monday, "I underwent an eye surgery recently and I'm on bed rest. Everyone in this country has freedom to make their own decisions. My wife and sister can also choose any party or follow any other party's ideology. I don't know why she chose BJP over SP, though." He was non-committal when asked whether he too would join his wife and sister on their campaign trail.
Notably, despite 'cross-voting' for a BJP candidate in the recently-held Rajya Sabha polls, SP is yet to expel or take action against Maurya. Speculations are rife the two-term MLA is indirectly supporting BJP.
Maurya's late father, Bhola Shankar Maurya, was an MLA from Bilsi assembly segment in Budaun for several terms.
Madhu Chandra was a district panchayat president from SP in Budaun and the MLA's wife was the president of Bilsi municipality.