LUCKNOW: BJP leader Dharmendra Kumar Kashyap joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday, ending speculation triggered by a Facebook post he made after his name was left out of the BJP’s list of Rajya Sabha candidates for Uttar Pradesh.SP president Akhilesh Yadav welcomed the OBC leader into the party, news agency PTI reported.Addressing a press conference alongside Yadav, Kashyap claimed that people in Uttar Pradesh were fed up with the BJP government because of its “poor” law and order situation.He also alleged that chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s bulldozer action did not target people from his caste and was directed at the poor.Yadav said Kashyap’s entry would strengthen the SP.According to sources, Kashyap, a former minister, had been hopeful of securing a Rajya Sabha ticket from the BJP but was not included in the party’s list of candidates, PTI reported.The BJP fielded state minister Dharampal Singh and Shruti Gangwar, daughter of former Union minister and former Jharkhand governor Santosh Gangwar, from Bareilly district.After the BJP announced its list, Kashyap posted a picture of a sunset by the sea on Facebook on October 7, accompanied by the words “Tata Bye-Bye”.The post triggered speculation about his possible return to the SP.Kashyap is considered one of the prominent political faces of the Kashyap community in Rohilkhand, in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, PTI reported.He left the SP and joined the BJP in May 2013.He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Aonla in 2014 and 2019 but lost the seat by a narrow margin in the 2024 elections.The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are due early next year.(With agency inputs)
