As per reports, actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada may join the BJP to contest from the Rampur constituency against the Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan. The development comes after Amar Singh declared himself as ‘Chowkidar’ on Twitter and extended his support to PM Narendra Modi.
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Jaya Prada had embarked on her political career with TDP before joining SP and had won the important Lok Sabha seat of Rampur in 2009. However, in a faction conflict in SP, Jaya Prada’s decision to side Amar Singh had resulted in her expulsion from the party in 2010. Later in 2014, she contested the Lok Sabha polls on an RLD ticket from Bijnor but lost in the elections.
In 2014, Rampur Lok Sabha seat saw a thrilling contest with BJP’s Dr. Nepal Singh emerging victorious against Samajwadi Party’s Naseer Ahmed. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Rampur may well be poised for a close fight in the eventuality of Jaya Prada taking on the SP stalwart Azam Khan.
Jaya Prada and Azam Khan had been at loggerheads since long. Recently, speaking at an event, Jaya Prada had revealed that Azam Khan had attempted an acid attack on her. She had also stated that due to Khan, she had once perceived a threat to her life and was under severe trauma.
The Samajwadi Party has ditched its alliance with Congress this time and has instead chosen to team up with Bahujan Samaj Party. In 2014, SP and BSP had managed to get only 5 and 0 seats, while the BJP had won a remarkable 71 seats to register a historic mandate in UP as well as the country.