06-07-2009, 12:53 AM
<b>Rampur BJP MLA joins SP</b>
http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftn...a-joins-sp.aspx
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
June 5: The Samajwadi Party on Friday ensnared a former BJP MLA, Mr Shiv Bahadur Saxena, who had represented the Rampur Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh four times, into the party fold. Mr Saxena is being credited by the SP leaders of having ensured the victory of the party MP Jaya Prada from the Rampur Lok Sabha constituency despite the dissidence of the expelled party leader Azam Khan.
"My reason for leaving the BJP was because the party has left behind its ideology and has made false promises to people. Its leaders donât practice what they preach," said Mr Saxena, who was flanked by the SP general secretary Amar Singh and Ms Prada in the SP office in the capital.
Mr Saxena said, he had taken the decision before the elections itself. "A decision has to be taken at the appropriate time," he said.
Denying that it was political opportunism on his part, Mr Saxena said: "I took this decision prior to elections, to ensure a personâs victory who I felt deserved to win from Rampur, and therefore, I decided to back Jaya Prada. I felt that somebody who has done so much for Rampur, did not deserve to lose."