NEW DELHI: The Congress inducted Nasimuddin Siddiqui, a former key aide of BSP chief Mayawati, in its effort to regroup in Uttar Pradesh.
Siddiqui was a powerful minister when Mayawati was the UP chief minister from 2007-2012 but later fell out of her favour and was sacked last year for anti-party activities.
On Thursday, Siddiqui joined the Congress along with hundreds of supporters who flooded the sprawling AICC lawns and raised slogans. Besides Siddiqui, OP Singh, Liaqat Ali, Achche Lal Nishad, Arshad Khan, Begum Husna Siddiqui, former MLAs and MPs, joined the Congress.
“The Congress will rise once again as the strongest party in the country. I heartily welcome all the BSP members who have worked for long years in the party and in assembly,” AICC in -charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad said. He described the joinings as a proof that more and more leaders wanted to work with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who represents Amethi in the Lok Sabha.
Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the only other party lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha. The Congress has only seven MLAs in the UP Assembly, which kind of explains its desperation to rally forces against the BJP which has 73 members in the Lok Sabha and 312 of the 403 MLAs.
In 2017, the Congress had joined hands with the SP but the alliance failed to attract the voters. The BSP too was reduced to just 19 MLAs, down from 80 in 2012.
Azad said the joining of BSP leaders will not upset Maywati with whom the Congress wants to forge a wider alliance.