Lucknow, Oct 27 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dharmendra Kashyap on Tuesday switched his political loyalties and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP), in the presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, bringing an end to the speculation that began after his ‘bye-bye’ post on social media.
Dharmendra Kashyap, a former BJP MP from Aonla Lok Sabha constituency in Bareilly, joined the Samajwadi Party, accompanied by his daughter Kirti Kashyap and his supporters. Abid Ali, from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), also joined the SP.
The development comes days after Dharmendra Kashyap was denied a ticket by the BJP for the Rajya Sabha elections.
Kashyap, with sizeable support of the OBC community, was welcomed by the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who called it the ‘beginning of BJP’s downfall’.
Addressing a presser along with the SP chief, Kashyap claimed that the people of the state were fed up with the BJP government due to a “poor” law and order situation and also alleged that Yogi govt’s bulldozer action was targeted at the poor and deprived families only.
Welcoming the BJP MP into his party, Akhilesh Yadav said that this will strengthen his fight for social justice.
He also asserted that the moment election dates are announced, the BJP’s defeat will be sealed.
Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of resorting to dishonest means and electoral manipulation to rig the elections, as it was frightened of defeat. He also raised questions regarding the functioning of the Election Commission, removal of names from electoral rolls, and the overall voting process.
Kashyap, a tall leader in his constituency, was denied Rajya Sabha nomination in the recent elections, despite being a strong contender.
After the BJP made its RS election list public, the disgruntled leader took to his Facebook account and posted a cryptic tweet, triggering speculations of imminent exit from the party.
The post, which he put out on October 7, was a picture of the sunset by the sea, laced with a caption – “Tata Bye-Bye”, leading to his possible switchover (rather return) to SP. He had quit the SP to join the BJP in 2013.
Dharmendra Kashyap is one of the influential political leaders of the Kashyap community in the northwestern part of the state. He was elected twice to the Lok Sabha on the BJP ticket in 2014 and 2019, respectively; however, he lost the 2024 polls by a small margin.
–IANS
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