JD(U) MP NK Singh, journalist MJ Akbar join BJP

JD(U) MP NK Singh, journalist MJ Akbar, AAP leader Shazia Ilmi's brother Dr Aizaz Ilmi and Bar Council of India member RS Goswami joined the BJP here on Saturday.

JD(U) MP NK Singh, journalist MJ Akbar, AAP leader Shazia Ilmi's brother Dr Aizaz Ilmi and Bar Council of India member RS Goswami joined the BJP here on Saturday.

A close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Singh resigned from the JD(U) on Friday pointing out "the infirmities in the decision making process in the Party". In Akbar, the BJP gets a modernist Muslim intellectual, widely acknowledged for his gaps over Islamist issues and other matters. Akbar, who edited several newspapers, was a close aide of former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi and even got elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989 from Kishanganj in Bihar.

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"Social activists, retired military officers and actors have become members of the party. Today (Saturday), veteran journalist M.J. Akbar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party," party president Rajnath Singh said at a press conference here. BJP leader claim Akbar will now be a prominent BJP face articulating party's point of view on television.

"I have come back to politics because of policy (main rajniti me niti ke liye wapas aya hu). The crisis in front of the country is known to all. This is an opportunity to do whatever little we can do for our country," he said after joining the party. It is our duty to join hands with the voice of the nation and bring the country back to a recovery mission. I look forward to working in BJP," Akbar told reporters.

Singh joining is also a reflection of BJP's plan to rope in more and more people from all walks of life to reinforce the point that it was becoming 'acceptable' to all. The BJP had got a shot in the arm when LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan returned to the NDA 12 years after quitting it on the issue of Gujarat riots. The BJP has fielded several Muslim candidates in the Lok Sabha.

Another Muslim face, Dr Aizaz Ilmi, also joined the party in presence of president Rajnath Singh. He is brother of AAP leader Shajia Ilmi. Bar council of India member RS Goswami, a known lawyer, followed s

Several sitting MPs from Congress, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bahujan Samaj Party and others have joined the BJP, while some former bureaucrats and ex-policemen have also followed suit.

Prominent among them are ex home secretary RK Singh, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh and ex-R&AW chief Sanjeev Tripathi.

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