BJP MP from Machhlishahr Ram Charitra Nishad joins Samajwadi Party

LUCKNOW: In a big jolt to the BJP, its sitting Member from Parliament (MP) from the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha constituency Ram Charitra Nishad joined the Samajwadi Party on Friday.

Lucknow: Ram Charitra Nishad, BJP MP from Machhlishahr joins Samajwadi Party (SP) in presence of party chief, Akhilesh Yadav. pic.twitter.com/grAREYy3CT — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 19 April 2019

 MP

The BJP MP from Machhlishahr joined the Samajwadi Party in presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Ram Charitra Nishad is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and has won from the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha election riding on the Narendra Modi wave.

Nishad was reportedly upset with the saffron leadership as he was denied ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from his constituency.

It may be recalled that the BJP central leadership had declared VP Saroj as the party's official candidate from the Machhlishahr seat this time. 

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Nishad had defeated Saroj, then a BSP leader, by a huge margin.

Saroj had quit BSP and joined the BJP last month and was given the ticket to contest the polls from the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha seat.

This reportedly didn't go well with Nishad and he decided to join the Samajwadi Party under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, the former UP chief minister.