The announcement, which was made in the state Assembly, was approved by Speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar.

Both Yadav and his wife Urmilesh are members of the Assembly from Badaun. While Yadav represents Sahswan Assembly constituency, Urmilesh was elected from the Bisauli constituency. With the joining of two more MLAs, BSP’s tally has risen to 212 in the House of 403.

Yadav’s son Vikas, accused in the Nitish Katara and Jessica Lal murder cases, had also contested the Assembly election in May 2007, but lost by a narrow margin of 500 votes.

Speaking in the Assembly after joining the BSP, Yadav blamed the media and rival political parties for conspiring to implicate Vikas in fake cases. “My son is in jail only because of political reasons,” he said.

Criticising the Opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party, for opposing the BSP government, Yadav said he had always appreciated the ideology of the late Kanshi Ram and had even won the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat on the party’s ticket once.