New Delhi. Samajwadi Party MLA from Jalalpur Assembly in Ambedkarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh Subhash Rai joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. At the BJP headquarters, he joined the saffron party in the presence of Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, both deputy chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh and in-charge of BJP media department, Anil Baluni.
Welcoming Rai into the party, Singh claimed that there is rule of law in the north today and the winds of nationalism and development are blowing there. He said, “In view of the atmosphere that has been created in Uttar Pradesh today, Subhash Rai has joined the BJP. This is his homecoming. With his arrival, BJP will become stronger in Ambedkar Nagar district.
It is noteworthy that in the 2017 assembly elections, Ritesh Pandey was elected MLA from Jalalapur on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP made him its candidate from the Ambedkar Nagar parliamentary seat. After winning the election, he resigned from the membership of the assembly. After this, Subhash Rai was elected MLA on SP ticket in the by-election held on Jalalapur seat. Rakesh Pandey, father of MP Ritesh Pandey, has recently joined the Samajwadi Party. He was also elected MLA from Jalalpur on SP ticket in the year 2002. By joining SP, his ticket from Jalalpur is believed to be almost fixed.