MATHURA: Pained over the denial of ticket for the upcoming Assembly polls, senior BJP leader S K Sharma resigned from the primary membership of the party and joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday.
His close aide Niraj Rawat also followed suit.
Sharma had contested the 2017 Assembly elections on the BJP ticket from Mant constituency.
"The BJP has deceived me twice and the party has lost its earlier character," Sharma told reporters.
Sharma said though he wanted to contest from Mathura in 2017, the BJP leadership compelled him to enter the fray from Mant and assured him a berth in the legislative council in case he lost.
Though he was not offered a seat in the Upper House, Sharma said, he was instructed to work in Mant and the leadership assured him a ticket from the same constituency this time.
However, that was not to be the case.
Sharma said he did not seek a "single penny" from the BJP but mentioned that he had given enough to the party.
"Now, I have resigned from all positions in the BJP and joined the BSP. Not only this, I will also contest as the BSP candidate from Mathura," Sharma, who is expected to file his nomination papers on Thursday, said.
Meanwhile, alliance partners Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) seem to have locked horns over the Mant Assembly seat.
Despite the pact between the two parties, SP's national spokesperson Sanjai Lathar claimed that the party has given him a go ahead to contest from the constituency while RLD candidate Yogesh Nauhar has already filed his nomination papers claiming that he is the official candidate of the alliance.
The BJP on Wednesday released the name of one more candidate for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, fielding Mukta Raja from Aligarh.
With this, the BJP has so far announced 110 candidates for the state assembly polls, where the party is contesting elections in an alliance with the Apna Dal and the Nishad Party.
The party on Wednesday announced that Mukta Raja will be its candidate from Aligarh assembly.
Earlier in the day, the top brass of the BJP including its president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah held deliberations with Uttar Pradesh unit leaders including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to finalise the remaining candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
The BJP leaders also held meetings with Apnal Dal leader Anupriya Patel and Nishad Party leader Sanjay Nishad to finalise the seat sharing agreement.
The elections for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls will be held in seven phases starting from February 10.