BJP legislator Sangeet Som (File photo)
Sangeet Som, the BJP lawmaker from Sardhana who had been arrested in the Muzaffarnagar riots case, created a controversy today, saying around a hundred lawmakers from the ruling Samajwadi Party are in touch with the BJP, willing to bring down the Akhilesh Yadav government.
In Faizabad to pay respects at the Ayodhya shrine, Mr Som said, "A 100 MLAs are in touch with the BJP who are willing to resign. I think they want to bring down the government themselves."
While he refused to identify any of the legislators, he added that the next government in the state would be formed by the BJP.
The ruling Samajwadi Party has 217 legislators in the 403-member assembly. If 100 legislators do join the BJP, the government could fall much before the end of its term in 2017. The BJP has only 42 legislators.
The BJP swept 72 of the state's 80 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections held last May.
The ruling SP won only five seats. After the elections, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav took steps to overhaul the government which included dropping "non-performing" ministers.
Mr Som had been accused by the UP police of making inflammatory speeches and uploading a fake video that was one of the triggers of the Muzaffarnagar riots in September, which killed at least 60 people and rendered thousands homeless.
The legislator from Meerut was arrested after the riots and released on bail in November.
Days later, he was felicitated at a BJP rally shortly before Narendra Modi arrived to campaign for the national election in May.
In August last year, Mr Som was given top level security by the Narendra Modi government.