"Samajwadi Party is giving shelter to mafias and criminals," Pramod Gupta said.
A day after former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his brother-in-law and former Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Pramod Gupta is set to join the BJP in Lucknow on Thursday.
Mr Gupta while talking to media persons at his residence in Auraiya said, "Today at noon I will join BJP in presence of Laxmikant Bajpai."
He further alleged, "Samajwadi Party is giving shelter to mafias and criminals and there is no point in staying in such a party. Akhilesh has imprisoned Mulayam Singh Yadav. Netaji (Mulayam Singh) and Shivpal were tortured by Akhilesh."
Aparna Yadav had joined BJP on Wednesday in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP State president Swatantra Dev Singh.
Ms Aparna is the wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger son Mr Pratik. They got married in 2011. For the forthcoming assembly elections, Ms Aparna has sought a ticket from the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat, as per sources.
Notably, Ms Aparna made her political debut in the 2017 assembly elections in the state by contesting from the Lucknow Cantt seat. However, she was defeated by BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who had secured nearly 63,000 votes.
Besides politics, Ms Aparna runs an organisation named 'beware' for the welfare of women. She also runs a shelter for cows in Lucknow. In the past as well, she has praised BJP's initiatives in the state and had also donated Rs 11 lakh for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.