New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS): Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, former Congress MP Rajeev Sachan, former minister and Samajwadi Party leader Shivkant Ojha on Thursday joined the BJP.

Another Samajwadi Party MLA Sharatveer also switched to the saffron party.

Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, former Uttar Pradesh party president Laxmikant Bajpai and national media head Anil Baluni welcomed the three into the BJP fold at the party headquarters here.

"These leaders are prominent figures in political and social circle of Uttar Pradesh. People are strongly standing with the BJP after seeing the positive changes in the states under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and our state election in-charge Pradhan. We welcome them in BJP family," Naqvi said.

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said: "They are prominent name fighting for social justice and joined BJP to contribute in development of state under leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath."

Introducing the leaders, Baluni said: "People can judge in which direction wind is blowing with joining of so many people."

Sachan is former Congress MP and two term MLA. In 2009, Sachan elected to the LoK Sabha from Fatehpur Parliamentary Constituency.

Ojha was a four-time MLA and former minister in Akhilesh Yadav government. Sharatveer is third term sitting MLA from Samajwadi Party.

On January 25, former union minister and senior Congress leader R.P.N Singh had joined BJP. Earlier, Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav also joined the party.