Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said among the party MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, some defected to save their lives and some were under pressure.

He said action will be taken against those who cross-voted according to the "established rules".

Asked about the seven SP MLAs who cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Tuesday, Yadav told reporters, "Think how much pressure is there from the government. STF is an agency of the government. Some people have gone (to the BJP) to save their lives, some under pressure and some to get respect. We hope they will get the honour soon." On the question whether any action will be taken against the SP MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, the party president said, "Action will be taken as per the established rules." The former chief minister said, "The biggest thing is that how will they now face the voters? They won fighting with the BJP. Now what will their conscience tell those voters? What answer will you give them?" Yadav said in a sarcastic tone, "We remember that they used to inform us what the BJP and the Sangh (RSS) were up to. We are worried who will give us that information now." On the question whether the party leadership was aware of the cross-voting, Yadav said, "No one can stop those who want to go. You should not ask me this question. One should ask the BJP, which talks about Maryada Purushottam Ram Ji, where is their 'maryada' (dignity)?" "They would have been given assurances that they would be made a minister or something bigger and they would be given a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. Promises have been made now. When will those promises be fulfilled? And when the promises will not be fulfilled, then how will the BJP be able to stop them all?" he said.

Pointing at SP chief whip Manoj Kumar Pandey, the party MLA from Unchahar seat of Raebareli, he said, "Just now someone was saying that he will be getting the Raebareli Lok Sabha ticket. Only when the elections are over, it will be known who got the package and who returned empty-handed."

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