UP minister Rakesh Sachan
Lucknow: A photograph of UP minister Rakesh Sachan alongside SP chief Akhilesh Yadav triggered political buzz on Wednesday, with the image going viral hours after Samajwadi Party announced its candidates for Rajya Sabha elections.
He was elected MLA on an SP ticket twice from Ghatampur constituency, serving from 1993 to 1996 and again from 2002 to 2007. He won the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Fatehpur as an SP candidate.
A section of the media is blowing the issue out of proportion,” Sachan said. The controversy grew after Akhilesh claimed that several BJP MLAs were in touch with SP and promised to lend their support to his party in RS polls. Sachan MLA from Bhoginipur seat in Kanpur Dehat. Sachan began his mainstream electoral career with the SP and was associated with it for nearly two decades. He was considered a close ally of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Sachan dismissed the controversy and described the meeting as a routine courtesy call. “I had gone to meet Speaker Satish Mahana, where some senior SP leaders were also present. I hold a responsible position as a minister in UP govt. Nothing should be read between the lines. Sachan later met UP BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary at his residence, a move seen as an attempt to publicly reaffirm his allegiance to BJP and dispel any doubts over his political loyalties.