Former Prime Minister and socialist leader Chandra Shekhar’s elder son, Pankaj Shekhar Singh, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. Pankaj made overtures to BJP leaders in the last few months and had expressed his desire to join the party.
The BJP chief Rajnath Singh welcomed the Thakur leader from Uttar Pradesh into the BJP fold. The BJP UP unit chief laxmikant Bajpai and national general secretary JP Nadda were also present on the occasion.
The development has fuelled speculation that BJP might field Pankaj from Ballia or some neighbouring constituency in the next Parliamentary election. The former PM’s younger son, Neeraj Shekhar Singh, represents Ballia lok Sabha seat as a Samajwadi Party (SP) member.
The BJP has been trying to improve its performance in the next elections, particularly in Uttar Pradesh that accounts for 80 lok Sabha seats. From a high of 58 seats in 1998, BJP’s tally in UP in the general elections came down to nine in the 2009 polls.
The BJP’s Prime Minister probable Narendra Modi had recently suggested to party leaders to induct new faces into the party. Incidentally, Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari, who contested 2009 lok Sabha election from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on SP ticket, joined the BJP on Thursday.