LUCKNOW, Oct. 17 -- Several leaders from the BJP, BSP and other parties, along with their supporters, joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Lucknow on Friday, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav describing the influx as the beginning of a larger shift ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Prominent among those who crossed over to the SP at the party headquarters were former BJP MP Rajpal Saini, Vidup Agrahari, son of former MP Shyamacharan Gupta, BJP leader Ravi Pratap Singh from Badaun, Harveer Malik from Shamli, Shan-e-Ali, son of former minister Riaz Ahmad and a former BSP candidate from Pilibhit, and Thakur Nand Kishore Pundir, a former BSP candidate from Ghaziabad.

From western UP, the list included Kamal Gautam, Azad Samaj ...