Prayagraj, Feb 8 (PTI) Congress leader Yogesh Shukla who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad has joined BJP.

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Shukla who had earlier contested the LS poll from Allahabad in 2009 too as a BJP candidate but had lost to Rewati Raman Singh of the Samajwadi Party, on Tuesday said he joined the BJP in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP BJP's organisation secretary Sunil Bansal in Lucknow on Tuesday.

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He said he returned to the BJP after losing all hopes of the Congress returning to its roots which, he said, has defeated his purpose of being in politics and preserving India's cultural values and heritage.

Shukla had been a member of the National Youth Commission between 2002 and 2007 and worked as a coordinator of the BJP's Intellectual Cell between 2007 and 2010. Later between 2010 and 2016, he was the national coordinator of BJP Panchayat Cell.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)