Mayank Joshi, son of Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Prayagraj, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, joined the Samajwadi Party on Saturday.
His induction into the party was announced by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav while addressing an election meeting at Gopalpur in Azamgarh district.
After Mayank failed to secure a BJP ticket from Lucknow, talks of his joining the SP were doing the rounds since February. However, Rita Bahuguna Joshi had dismissed the reports saying, "The rumour of her son leaving the party (BJP) is baseless."
Mayank Joshi had met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in February. Akhilesh Yadav had then tweeted a photo of Mayank Joshi meeting him and described it as an "informal meeting".
Rita Bahuguna Joshi was trying to secure a BJP ticket for her son from Lucknow Cantonment assembly constituency. However, the BJP rejected the demand and gave the ticket to cabinet minister Brajesh Pathak.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi was elected as MLA from Lucknow Cantonment on a Congress ticket in 2012. In the 2017 assembly elections, she contested on a BJP ticket and defeated SP candidate Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav. Aparna Yadav recently joined the BJP.