Jaya Prada joins BJP, may take on former mentor-turned-rival Azam Khan in Rampur

Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada joined the BJP on Tuesday and may return to Rampur, the Lok Sabha seat she first won more than 10 years ago, to take on Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan, who once helped secure her victory there.

From ally to adversary

Shortly before the 2004 election, Jaya Prada, earlier associated with the Telugu Desam Party, joined the SP, which fielded her in Rampur against sitting MP Begum Noor Bano. She won comfortably. Over the following years she was drawn into the SP’s internal feuds, siding with general secretary Amar Singh against Azam Khan.

Azam Khan left the SP after Mulayam Singh Yadav joined hands with former BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh. When the SP renominated Jaya Prada for Rampur in 2009, Khan was seen as opposing her and reportedly lent tacit support to Noor Bano, the very candidate he had helped defeat five years earlier. With the BJP seen as weak, the anti-Khan vote, including many BJP voters, consolidated behind Jaya Prada, and she won again in 2009. Amar Singh played a key role, constantly provoking Khan during the campaign.

After the SP

When Amar Singh was later forced out of the SP, she followed him and joined Ajit Singh’s RLD, contesting Bijnor and finishing fourth with a little over 24,000 votes. Joining the BJP marks her first time with a national party.

A different contest in 2019

This election differs from the earlier ones: the SP and BSP are allies, Azam Khan can count on Dalit votes, and the BJP won the seat by a modest margin even in the Modi wave. Attention is also on whether the Congress will again field someone from the Nawab family to cut into Khan’s support among Muslims.

What happened next

The BJP won 303 of 543 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, counted on 23 May 2019.

Originally published on 26 March 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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