UP: Former Samajwadi Party MLA Dara Singh Chauhan joins BJP

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Dara Singh Chauhan joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Lucknow on Monday. The joining ceremony took place in the presence of Uttar Pradesh BJP President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya.

SP MLA Dara Singh Chauhan on Saturday resigned from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. An OBC leader from eastern UP, he was elected from the Ghosi seat in Mau district on the SP's poll symbol.

Earlier on Friday, Dara Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in Delhi. In the Adityanath cabinet from 2017 to 2022, Chauhan was Cabinet minister for Forests, Environment and Animal Husbandry and later, resigned from the cabinet on January 12 in 2022 ahead of the assembly polls.

Chauhan started his political career with the BSP and later joined the SP. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for two terms in 1996 and 2000 and as per the website of Rajya Sabha, he was elected as an SP candidate and was also the party's national executive member.