Luckow: Ahead of upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, an MLA from Bilsi assembly constituency Radha Krishna quit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join Samajwadi Party (SP).
In the last assembly polls in the state, the MLA had secured more than 82 thousand votes whereas, the candidates of BSP and SP managed to poll 55,091 and 50,848 votes respectively.
It is the second jolt to the saffron party as BJP MLA from Nanpara in Bahraich district Madhuri Varma had also joined SP earlier. It is expected that more BJP leaders are likely to join the SP before the upcoming polls.
Earlier, the former chief minister of the state Akhilesh Yadav said that he is confident that SP will win the upcoming assembly elections in the state. He said that people in the state are set to bid farewell to the BJP government.
Recently, addressing a press conference in Lucknow, he promised to provide free laptops to the youths of the state if elected to power.
ECI announces schedule of elections
The Election Commission of Indi (ECI) on Saturday announced the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, and Uttarakhand. The poll panel said the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP won 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 percent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.