LUCKNOW, Feb. 14 -- A year before of the 2027 assembly elections, former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Nasimuddin Siddiqui, who quit the Congress on January 24, will join the Samajwadi Party (SP) along with 15 former ministers, ex-MLAs and a large number of supporters. The induction, scheduled for February 15, is being described as one of the biggest political joinings in Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the polls.

Siddiqui's entry will be a significant boost for the SP before the electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh.

"I will join the SP on Sunday," said Siddiqui who met SP leaders during the day.

"I have no grudge with anyone even in Congress. I just wanted to work and found the opportunity is not possible in the Congress," he said.

Both...