Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, joined the BJP on Tuesday in the presence of its general secretaries Bhupendra Yadav and Anil Jain, a day after he quit Samajwadi Party and also resigned from Rajya Sabha.
Neeraj Shekhar had contested and won from his father’s traditional Ballia constituency as a Samajwadi Party candidate in by-polls in 2007 after the former prime minister’s death. In 2009, he was re-elected from the constituency. After his defeat in 2014, the Samajwadi Party nominated him to the Rajya Sabha.
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BJP sources said the party is likely nominate him as its candidate for Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
Though Chandra Shekhar was not in Samajwadi Party, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had never fielded any candidate against him from Ballia.
After Chandra Shekhar’s death in 2007, Mr. Yadav had fielded Neeraj Shekhar from the seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket.