Two-time former MLA and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali on February 28 joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Lucknow in the presence of party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Mr. Jamali, who wields influence in his home district of Azamgarh, served two terms as an MLA between 2012 and 2022 from the Mubarakpur Assembly seat of the district and polled more than 2.66 lakh votes as a BSP nominee in the 2022 Lok Sabha by-election from the Azamgarh seat. In the 2014 parliamentary poll, Mr. Jamali also polled over 2.66 lakh votes, while SP founder Mulayam Singh won the seat securing 3.40 lakh votes. “I welcome Guddu Jamali ji. We are going to fight for the future in 2024. You will feel at home by staying in this party,” said the SP president.
Mr. Jamali said that in the present circumstances, the SP is the force in Uttar Pradesh standing for the democratic rights of every citizen. “In the circumstances in which we are standing today in the country, there is a camp which wants to break this country, wants to divide it, while the camp of SP is trying to save the democratic values of India. We all need to stand by it,” said the former MLA.
Other SP leaders also welcomed Mr. Jamali, adding his joining will strengthen the SP in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming parliamentary polls. “Today the BJP has created a crisis for the country, is determined to change the Constitution and at the same time has tried to completely destroy the principles of democracy. The joining of Guddu Jamali ji will strengthen us in the fight against the ruling party in coming polls,” said Shivpal Singh Yadav, SP General Secretary.
Mr. Jamali’s induction is seen as an attempt by the SP to strengthen the prospects of the party in the Azamgarh district where the Muslim community is influential electorally before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the newly inducted leader is likely made a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) by the SP in this month polls for vacant Legislative Council seats.
