Ex-minister Dara Singh Chauhan, Apna Dal MLA join Samajwadi Party

Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh minister and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday, days after he resigned from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet ahead of the Assembly polls.

Besides Chauhan, Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA from Vishvanathganj Assembly constituency in Pratapgarh district R K Verma too joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party which has emerged as the main challenger to the BJP in the state.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) is an ally of the BJP. On Friday, former ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini, five BJP MLAs and one from the Apna Dal (Sonelal) had crossed over to the Samajwadi Party.

While joining the Samajwadi Party on Sunday, Chauhan trained his guns at the BJP, saying, "When the BJP formed government in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, it gave the slogan 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas'... But, 'vikaas' (development) of a handful of people was done and the rest were left to their fate."

Terming the Samajwadi Party as his "old home", he said, "We will change the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and make Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh once again."

"People belonging to the OBC and Dalit communities will come together. Our rivals may try their level best but will not be able to stop this storm. A change is inevitable," Chauhan said.