BJP MP's son joins SP

Joshi had earlier demanded a ticket for her son from Lucknow Cantonment seat, but was declined

BJP Lok Sabha member Rita Bahuguna Joshi's son Mayank Joshi on Saturday joined the Samajwadi Party (SP), just days ahead of the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Mayank, who had met SP president Akhilesh Yadav a few days ago, attended an election rally addressed by the SP president at Azamgarh. The SP president also announced Mayank's joining during his speech. "SP will be strengthened with the joining of Mayank," he said.

The development assumes significance as Rita Bahuguna Joshi had earlier demanded a ticket for her son from Lucknow Cantonment seat, where polling was held on February 23, but the saffron party did not oblige.

Read | UP Polls: BJP faces tough battle in Varanasi

Joshi had also offered to resign from her Prayagraj Lok Sabha seat if Mayank was given the party nomination. "If giving ticket to Mayank violates the party rule that two members of the same family can not be given nomination then I am ready to resign," Joshi had said.

Akhilesh had earlier offered to field Mayank as an SP candidate from Lucknow Cantonment seat but he had then declined. Mayank, according to the sources, however, did campaign for the SP nominee from the seat.

Aparna Yadav, the wife of Akhilesh's younger brother Prateek Yadav, who switched loyalty to the BJP before the polls, had also sought an SP ticket from the seat but Akhilesh denied her nomination.

Mayank's joining the SP comes close on the heels of another BJP MP Sanghamitra Maurya taking potshot at the saffron party following attack on her father Swami Prasad Maurya, who joined the SP before the polls, allegedly by the BJP workers at Fazil Nagar in Deoria district. Swami Prasad Maurya was the SP candidate from the seat. Sanghamitra was seen campaigning for her father there.

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