Putting an end to the on-going speculations, veteran actor turned politician Jaya Prada joined the BJP today, two weeks before the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, in its list of candidates for Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal named the former Samajwadi member Jaya Pradesh to contest from Rampur constituency against the Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan.
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Jaya Prada was officially inducted in the BJP at party headquarter in New Delhi. “This is a significant moment for me. Be it cinema or politics, I have worked with all my heart and dedicated my life to it. Thankful to the BJP for this respect,” Jaya Prada said at the press conference.
“Today I am working with that brave leader in whose hands the country feels safe… PM Modi. I thank the BJP and Amit Shah for this,” Jaya Prada said.
Now, with Jaya Prada’s official induction into BJP, she would be facing SP stalwart Azam Khan in Rampur constituency with whom Jaya Parda has never shared a very cordial relationship. In fact, earlier 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 56-year-old actor started her political career by joining the TDP before joining SP and had won the important Lok Sabha seat of Rampur in 2004 against the sitting MP, Begum Noor Bano. She won the seat again in 2009 Lok Sabha election.
However, in a faction conflict in the Samajwadi Party following differences with Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jaya Prada’s decision to side Amar Singh had resulted in her expulsion from the party in 2010.
After being expelled from the Samajwadi Party, Jaya Prada and Amar Singh, who recently expressed vocal support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi by following PM Modi’s “Mein bhi Chowkidar” campaign, and adding Chowkidar” to his Twitter title, formed the Rashtriya Lok Manch. The party fielded a number of candidates in 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, but won none. However, ahead of the 2014 national elections, both of them joined Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Later, in 2014, she contested the Lok Sabha polls on an RLD ticket from Bijnor but lost in the elections.
Moreover, BJP leader Arun Singh also announced today that Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi would be contesting from Sultanpur and Pilibhit respectively.
“Maneka Gandhi to contest from Sultanpur and Varun Gandhi to contest from Pilibhit. Ram Shankar Katheria to contest from Etawah. Rita Bahuguna Joshi to contest from Allahabad. Jaya Prada to contest from Rampur (UP), Jagdambika Pal from Domariagan (UP). Humayun Kabir to contest from Murshidabad (West Bengal),” BJP leader Arun Singh said while addressing the media.
In 2014, BJP had won a remarkable 71 seats to register a historic mandate in Uttar Pradesh. This time too Uttar Pradesh will be the main battlefield where the BJP will face an acid test since many believe that coming together of SP-BSP will present a big challenge for BJP.