UP Nikay Chunav: Samajawadi Party's Mayoral Candidate Archana Verma Joins BJP

In the presence of senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, Archana Verma, the Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, joined the BJP. 

Archana Verma, the Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, joined the BJP on Sunday (April 23) in the presence of senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak. The BJP named her as its mayoral candidate for Shahjahanpur just hours after she joined the party. Girishpati Tripathi (from Kanpur), Harikant Ahluwalia (from Meerut), Sunita Dayal (from Ghaziabad), Prashant Singhal (from Aligarh), and Umesh Gautam (from Bareilly) have also been announced as candidates for the Ayodhya mayoral election by the saffron party.

State deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak was quoted as saying by PTI: "The Samajwadi Party (SP) had declared Archana Verma as its mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur in the upcoming urban local bodies elections." However, she was having difficulty associating herself with the party (SP)."

"She was distressed by the atrocities committed against women during the SP regime," Pathak said. When the SP declared her as its (mayoral) candidate, she decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for nationalism: "Those who want to work in a dedicated manner for Mother India and establish a stronger rule of law in UP should join the saffron party," he said.

Pathak stated that Verma's father-in-law, Ram Murti Singh Verma, was a four-time MLA (three times from Shahjahanpur's Jalalabad assembly constituency and once from Dadraul). According to the minister, he was also a Shahjahanpur MP in 1996.

The second phase of voting in Shahjahanpur will take place on May 11. The votes will be counted on May 13. 

Meerut, Bareilly, Aligarh, Kanpur, Ayodhya, and Ghaziabad will also vote on May 11.

BJP To Launch 'Vikas Rath Yatra' On Monday:

Meanwhile, UP BJP media co-incharge Abhay Singh said senior party leaders will launch the party's 'Vikas Rath Yatra' on Monday from various cities across the state as part of the ongoing urban local body election campaign.

Voting for urban local bodies is scheduled for May 4 and 11. The vote will be counted on May 13. Elections will be held for 17 mayor seats, 1,420 corporator seats, 199 nagar palika parishad chairperson seats, 5,327 nagar palika parishad member seats, 544 nagar panchayat chairperson seats, and 7,178 nagar panchayat member seats. 

The politically important northern state sends 80 legislators to the Lok Sabha.