BJP's UP lawmaker Shyama Charan Gupta resigns, will contest from SP

Uttar Pradesh: In a major shock to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the party lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh Shyama Charan Gupta joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday.

Gupta will be contesting the upcoming elections from Banda constituency.

This announcement of switch comes hours before the release of BJP's first list for the Lok Sabha elections.

In 1999, Gupta had contested Lok Sabha elections from Banda on a Samajwadi Party ticket but had lost against BSP. He, however in 2004, won from Banda constituency.

Gupta had also contested from Phulpur in 2009 as a Samajwadi Party candidate but lost the elections.

A prominent Baniya leader in eastern Uttar Pradesh had contested as a BJP candidate from Allahabad, now known as Prayagraj, in 2014 and won.

The national elections will be held in seven phases starting from April 11. Results will be counted on May 23.