Lucknow, June 19 -- Amid claims by Uttar Pradesh minister OP Rajbhar and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya about a possible defection from the Samajwadi Party ranks, another minister Sanjay Nishad joined the chorus on Thursday, asserting that more than two dozen MPs from the SP and Congress were willing to join his party ahead of the 2027 state assembly election. Despite these claims, the SP said on Thursday that its house is in order. The war of words comes at a politically sensitive time when speculation is growing about early assembly elections Nishad, the Uttar Pradesh fisheries minister and the NISHAD party chief, claimed that the MPs with a Hindutva ideology were ready to join his party. The NISHAD party is a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh. "...Most of the MPs and MLAs are in touch with us, asking us to somehow take them to Delhi and facilitate a conversation with the central leadership," he said. When pressed for a specific figure regarding how many Opposition MPs are looking to cross over, Nishad provided a rough estimate, stating, "I think there are no less than two dozen as of today." The murmurs in Uttar Pradesh follow recent political developments involving the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) that ignited fresh discussion over the possibility of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coming within striking distance of the two-thirds majority in Parliament. For his part, Rajbhar on Thursday made fresh claims about an imminent split in the SP. Speaking to reporters in Azamgarh, considered a Samajwadi Party stronghold, he said, "A major split in the Samajwadi Party is certain, much like what happened with the TMC and Shiv Sena." Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav termed Rajbhar's allegations a "BJP conspiracy" meant to mislead the public and grab media attention. "BJP people lie. They also keep conspiring from time to time. No MP of the Samajwadi Party will break away," he said. The SP won 37 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 general election. "All our MLAs and MPs are standing firmly with the party and we will form a strong government under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh in 2027," Shivpal added. Anil Yadav, general secretary (Organisation), Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, said, "The BJP has always engaged in the politics of rumours. I don't think a split in the SP is possible."...