New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) Almost three weeks after Neeraj Shekhar, the son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the Samajwadi Party (SP) to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the saffron outfit on Thursday named him as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Uttar Pradesh.
In an official release, BJP working President J.P. Nadda said, “The Central Election Committee has decided to field Neeraj Shekhar for the ensuing bye-elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from Uttar Pradesh.”
Neeraj Shekhar had resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the Samajwadi Party on July 15. He joined the BJP on July 16 at its party headquarters in the national capital.
According to BJP leaders, Neeraj Shekhar was upset with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after he was denied ticket from his family’s traditional seat in Ballia in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha elections.
He had won the seat in 2007 and 2009, but lost in 2014, after which the Samajwadi Party sent him to the Rajya Sabha.
–IANS
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