New Delhi, Apr 3 (HT): Former spokesperson of Samajwadi Party (SP) Gaurav Bhatia, who had quit the party five days before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, formally joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday.

Once a prominent party face on the television batting for his erstwhile SP, Bhatia joined the saffron party in the presence of BJP national secretary Bhupendra Yadav and national general secretary Arun Singh at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Bhatia also met BJP president Amit Shah later during the day.

The BJP, however, remained mum on the role of Bhatia in the party.

On Sunday, Bhatia said, “The SP was moving away from the ideals of Ram Manohar Lohia. There is no value of loyalty and sincerity and it has been surrendered to dynastic politics.”

A Supreme Court lawyer, Bhatia, who was appointed as additional advocate general of the UP government led by then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for inspiring him to join the party.

He was also the national president of the legal cell of the SP.

BJP swept the UP assembly elections and returned to power after 14 years by winning 312 seats while the SP-Congress alliance got 54 seats.

Bhatia, however, refrained from launching any personal attack on former UP chief minister or his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Bhatia resigned from all posts of the SP on February 5 in the run up to the elections saying that it was becoming difficult for him to continue serving the party.

He then accused the SP of compromising the very principles of democracy, secularism and socialism that he had had strong belief in.

At the time of his resignation, Bhatia refused to disclose the reason why he was leaving the party.