Dara Singh Chauhan, a former minister in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's cabinet and a leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has resigned from the Uttar Pradesh legislature and returns to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Dara Singh Chauhan, a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, was born on July 25, 1963, in Azamgarh district. He began his political journey with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and served as a Rajya Sabha member twice, in 1996 and 2000.
Chauhan secured victory in the 2009 general elections from the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency, representing the BSP. In 2015, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and successfully contested the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election from the Madhuban Vidhansabha constituency.
From 2017 to 2022, Chauhan served as a cabinet minister in the UP government. However, in January 2022, he left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Subsequently, he contested the 2022 Assembly elections on the SP ticket and emerged as the elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Ghosi seat.
With the 2024 General Elections approaching, his move has drawn attention because Uttar Pradesh has the most seats in Parliament, with 80 legislators.
According to official sources, UP Speaker Satish Mahana has accepted Chauhan's resignation. The news comes amid speculation that Chauhan may rejoin the BJP.
According to the Samajwadi Party, the BJP has guaranteed him a party ticket for the forthcoming General Elections.
Rajendra Chowdhary, the SP's chief spokesperson, expressed unhappiness with Chauhan's apparent settlement with the BJP, noting that Chauhan became an MLA with the SP's backing and is now likely to earn a Lok Sabha ticket from the BJP.
The BJP, on the other hand, has denied any knowledge of Chauhan's outreach to them. Rakesh Tripathi, the BJP's spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh, indicated that they have yet to get a proposal from Chauhan but that anyone who supports PM Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister for the third time in 2024 is welcome to join the party.
Surprisingly, following his resignation, a photo of Chauhan with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi went popular on Twitter, fueling conjecture about his political future.
The Ghosi Lok Sabha seat, now held by Atul Rai of the Bahujan Samaj Party, is one of 14 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that are not held by the BJP.
The BJP hopes to win all 80 seats in the next elections and is working hard to reclaim the seats it lost in 2019.