Two weeks before the crucial Lok Sabha polls, veteran actor and former MP Jaya Prada on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and she has been pitted against Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan on the Rampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Jaya Prada had represented Rampur twice in the Lok Sabha — in 2004 and 2009 — as a member of the Samajwadi Party.
After being inducted into the party by BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav and the party’s media head and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni, the actor turned politician called it an “important moment” and said, “I am a part of national party and I’m in a party, where the leader leads on issues of national security”.
“Whether it is films or politics, I have always worked with everything I have,” Jaya Prada said.
Jaya Prada had made her political debut in 1994 with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) but later quit due to differences with party chief Chandrababu Naidu.
The actress then joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) but was expelled on account of alleged anti-party activities in 2010.
