In Rampur, Jaya Prada to take on one-time friend Azam Khan

New Delhi, Apr 03: Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada on Wednesday announced her candidature for 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Rampur Lok Sabha constituency.

Prada represented Rampur constituency twice in 2009 and 2014. On both the occasions, she defeated Congress's Noor Bano from Rampur.

On the account of her 57th birthday, Jaya Prada shared a video announcing her nominations from Rampur against Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan. She also mentioned that she is joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the video. Jaya expressed that she is happy to contest election from Rampur and support Narendra Modi.

She wrote, ""यह मेरे लिए बहुत खुशी की बात है कि मेरे जन्मदिन पर मैं रामपुर से उम्मीदवार के रूप में अपना नामांकन दाखिल करने वाली हूं। आपका आशीर्वाद चाहती हूं और शुभकामनाओं के लिए आप सभी को धन्यवाद देना चाहती हूं। #JayaPrada #MainBhiChowkidar #NationSaysNamoAgain".

On March 26, Jaya Prada joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders. She was inducted into the party by BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni.

A two-term Lok Sabha member from the SP, she is a close associate of Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, who was expelled from the regional party and has since come close to Hindutva fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Jaya Prada joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1994 to enter politics. Later she joined the Samajwadi Party but was expelled due to anti-party activities in 2010.

Of all the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Rampur has the highest concentration of Muslims, and the BJP has often banked on division of their votes and consolidation of Hindus in its favour to win what is seen as a difficult seat for the saffron party. Muslims are over 50 per cent of the total voters in the constituency.

Riding the Modi wave, BJP's Nepal Singh had won from there in 2014.

With Jaya Prada joining the BJP, the party's "star power" will also be boosted as it already has the likes of Hema Malini and Paresh Rawal in its ranks.