Lok Sabha Polls: BSP Candidate Bhavna Pandey From Haridwar Quits party, To Join BJP

Haridwar: A day after she joined the BSP and was named candidate from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat, Bhavna Pandey on Tuesday quit the party dealing a blow to it.

Pandey said she will join the BJP on March 28.

"I will campaign for BJP candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat," she told PTI.

Soon after Pandey quit the BSP, the Mayawati-led party declared Maulana Jameel Ahmed Kazmi, former party MLA in Uttar Pradesh, as its new candidate from Haridwar.

BSP supremo Mayawati had also contested from Haridwar in 1984. She had garnered around 1.25 lakh votes but lost the polls.

The BJP has been winning Haridwar seat since 2014 general elections. It has fielded former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat from the seat this time, replacing Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

The Congress has fielded former chief minister and party veteran Harish Rawat's son Virender Rawat from Haridwar.

Former journalist and independent MLA from Khanpur Umesh Kumar has also entered the fray from the seat as an independent. Kumar had made a sting video of the then chief minister Harish Rawat in which he was seen negotiating a deal to buy back the support of rebel MLAs in 2016.