24 BSP men join Cong

With just over two months to go for the Assembly elections, the political scene in the Capital seems to be getting hotter by the day, reports HT Correspondent.

With just over two months to go for the Assembly elections, the political scene in the Capital seems to be getting hotter by the day.

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Alleging discrimination in distribution of tickets, 24 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers led by the party’s former Delhi unit president Jagi Ram Bhati joined the Congress on Wednesday. Besides Bhati, other senior party men, who joined include municipal councilor Raju Rana, former party general secretary Ashwini Bagri, Mohammed Arif and Mahavir Sharma.

The decision of these BSP workers comes a shot in the arm for Delhi Congress at a time when the assembly elections is just round the corner and the party is being targeted by the opposition over issues like price hike, crumbling civic amenities and deteriorating law and order.

No wonder the Congress made the most of this political move with Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit calling a press conference at her residence to parade the former BSP leaders before the media.

“These leaders had contacted us and expressed a desire to join the party immediately. Their presence would help us to tackle our opponents more effectively,” said Dikshit.

Congress insiders told HT that on the face of it these BSP workers joining the party would not make much of a difference as most of them do not have any mass base in the Capital.

The move comes close on the heels of prominent Gujjar leader and Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri resigning from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in favour of Congress. Bidhuri along with two of his colleagues from NCP will be joining the Congress shortly.