Other States - Uttar Pradesh   

Ashok Bajpai joins BSP

Allahabad: A day after resigning from the Congress, former UPCC media cell chairman Ashok Kumar Bajpai on Thursday the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has fielded his son from the seat to which he was a claimant.

Announcing this here in the presence of BSP national secretary general Indrajit Saroj, Mr. Bajpai said he had served the Congress as a party governed by the ideals of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, ``but the current party leadership seems to have abandoned those ideals''.

``Congress has become an outfit of power brokers among whom old loyalists are feeling suffocated,'' Mr. Bajpai, son of former Union Minister Rajendra Kumar Bajpai, said adding even in the past he was denied party ticket on a number of occasions but now he could not take humiliation any longer.

Mr. Bajpai, whose estranged wife Ranjana is a Samajwadi Party leader and chairperson of the State Women's Commission, said he had full faith in BSP supremo Mayawati's ability ``to end the mafia rule in UP'' and extended his support to the party ``which is committed to the welfare of not only Dalits and backwards but also the poor among upper castes''.

Welcoming Mr .Bajpai into BSP fold, Mr. Saroj expressed hope that the entry of the veteran politician would add to the strength of the party. PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Bachchan did UP ad only for money: Shatrughan
Candidates using rickshaws in campaign for U.P. elections
FIR against U.P. Minister for `inflammatory speech'
BJP leader, ex-corporator arrested in murder case
Ashok Bajpai joins BSP
Curfew-hit Lucknow areas calm

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu