In an apparent setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, its MLA from Bilsi assembly constituency in Budaun, Radha Krishna Sharma, joined the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow on Monday.
Budaun is considered to be the bastion of Samajwadi Party but the BJP candidate had managed to win the Bilsi seat in the 2017 UP assembly election.
Sources in the BJP said that the exit of the sitting MLA would not affect the electoral fortune of the party.
In 2017 RK Sharma had joined the BJP just 21 days ahead of the assembly elections. He was not active in party activities in the district for over a year and he had stayed away from the programme for political mobilisation conducted by the BJP. He had also stayed away from the Jan Vishwas Yatra in Budaun led by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.