LUCKNOW, Feb. 28 -- Even before polling for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh began at 9am, the signs of rebellion were clear. By this time, Samajwadi Party's (SP) chief whip in the legislative assembly, Manoj Pandey, had tendered his resignation, and in the hours that followed, led a rebel contingent of seven party MLAs to the Vidhan Bhawan to vote for the BJP.
Eventually, eight SP legislators, one of whom abstained, of its total strength of 108 in an assembly comprising 399 members, deviated from party line, that meant that when the results were declared, only two of the party's three candidates for the Rajya Sabha emerged victorious.
The most significant of these rebels was 55-year-old Pandey, who, in 2022, was appointed the SP...