The cops, who had brought him to the district hospital from jail for a “medical check-up”, were present. So were many Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders, when former MLA Dilip Verma held a press conference and announced his decision to join the SP.





The cops did not dare to stop him, who, after being welcomed into the SP fold by senior party leaders, quietly went back to the jail.



The incident occurred on Friday in Uttar Pradesh's Baharaich district, about 200 km from here, in a private ward of the district hospital.



Verma, a two-time SP MLA from the Mahasi Assembly seat in Baharaich district, was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of assaulting a cop. He has already served one year of his sentence. Though he appealed against the sentence, it was rejected by a higher court.



Verma joined the BSP later. But, after being denied Assembly nomination, he managed to secure a ticket from the Congress. He, however, could not contest as his appeal was rejected. Instead, his wife was nominated from the seat and she emerged victorious.



The ex-MLA was approached by the SP with an offer to join the party, sources said.



On Friday, Verma sought permission to go to the district hospital for a medical check-up. He had complained of chest pain, sources said. He was accompanied by two cops.



Local reporters were already present and so were SP district president Ramtej Yadav and other leaders, when the former MLA arrived at the hospital. It was obvious that the entire show was pre-planned.



The jail officials said since there were only two cops, they chose to remain silent. “There were many SP workers there,” the officials said. They have written to senior officials in this regard, sources said.



Yadav, however, denied that Verma held a press conference, but, admitted that he had gone to the hospital to see the ex-MLA.