17 Leaders Quit Congress in Support of Rita Bahuguna Joshi

On her way out, Rita Bahuguna Joshi criticised and questioned Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the Congress party.

Senior Congress member Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday, 19 October 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Less than a week after Rita Bahuguna Joshi, senior member and former chief of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 17 other Congress leaders quit the party in her support.

These 17 Congress members belonged to the city unit and the women wing in Uttar Pradesh — and were considered close to Joshi. In a statement, they said they condemned the derogatory comments against Joshi made by the Congress party after she announced her decision to join the BJP.

We condemn the act of the Congress workers for insulting Bahuguna, who had served the party for 24 years.

Shabnam Pandey, Congress State Unit Secretary

Bahuguna is the daughter of Hemvati Nandan, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the widow of senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader PC Joshi.

Joshi’s exit is considered to be a major blow to the Congress party as Uttar Pradesh is months away from Assembly elections.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP president Amit Shah after joining BJP on Thursday, 20 October 2016. (Photo: IANS)

Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP president Amit Shah after joining BJP on Thursday, 20 October 2016. (Photo: IANS)

Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP president Amit Shah after joining BJP on Thursday, 20 October 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP president Amit Shah after joining BJP on Thursday, 20 October 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Rita Bahuguna Joshi with BJP president Amit Shah after joining BJP on Thursday, 20 October 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Rita Bahuguna Joshi was reportedly upset after Shiela Dikshit was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections.

"Disappointed in Congress"

Speaking in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah, Bahuguna Joshi criticised Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and said that the people do not accept him as a leader.

Today I have resigned from Congress to join BJP... I have served Congress for 24 years but I feel it has lost its reputation. Sonia Gandhi ji understood us. But under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, it isn’t possible. His leadership is not acceptable to the <i>junta</i>.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, BJP Member

“Developments in recent past have left me numb,” Bahuguna Joshi said while criticising Congress for its reaction on surgical strikes.

She also hit out at Rahul for ‘khoon ki dalali’ remarks and for demanding proof of surgical strikes.

Congress Hits Back

Rita’s switch was severely criticised by the Congress party that called her a "betrayer" and one pursuing "selfish politics".

Uttar Pradesh election campaign chief Raj Babbar critisised Bahuguna Joshi for following her family history of switching political parties.

<i>Yeh itihaas ki professor thi, shayad yehi karan hai ki ye apne parivaar ke itihaas ko dohrane mei chook nhi rahi hai. Inke parivaar mei ye 4th -5th badlav hai.</i> (She was a professor of history, maybe that is the reason why she has not failed to repeat her family’s history. This is the 4th or 5th change in their family.)

Raj Babbar, Congress Leader

Calling the MLA from Lucknow Cantonment constituency an “opportunist”, party spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad also denounced her saying she could not have won her seat.

<i>Avsarvaadi neta ek jagah tiktey nahin. Asli baat hai ki wo seat jeet nahin sakti thi, muqabla mushkil tha.</i> (Opportunist politicians never stick to one place. The reality is that she could not have won a seat as the competition was tough.)

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress Leader

File photo of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses a press conference in Lucknow, on 21 August 2016 along with Sheila Dikshit and Raj Babbar. (Photo: IANS)

Family History of Party-Jumps

Rita Joshi joined politics at a Mayor’s position from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and soon joined the Congress party and spent over two decades with the party, reports Business Standard.

She led the the party’s UP Assembly campaign in 2012 and lost. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav was elected chief minister that year.

Vijay Bahuguna, Rita Joshi’s brother and former chief minister of Uttarakhand, was among the nine rebel Congress MPs who quit the party, setting the beginning of months-long unrest in the state.

The leader’s father, HN Bahuguna, was also a Congress member and was elected as the chief minister of UP while in the party. He had also quit the party after serving as the CM and lost the following election to actor Amitabh Bachchan, reports NDTV.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Kapil Sibal (right). (Photo: altered by The Quint)

Sibal Says Bahuguna is a Migratory Bird

Former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Congress Kapil Sibal called Rita Bahuguna Joshi a “migratory bird” who flew away with his money, reports News18.

Speaking to CNN News18, Sibal claimed that she had planned to leave Congress a while back, although Bahuguna Joshi had denied rumours. Sibal said:

She came to me seeking funds for her election. I gave her the money. Then she joins the BJP.

However, Bahuguna Joshi has denied the claims saying that she had asked for the money from Sibal but never used it.

Since he is an MP from Uttar Pradesh and I was an MLA from the state, I had asked for funds for development of my constituency. The money was not utilised. While leaving, I sent him an email saying the money is no longer required.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI and Business Standard, News18)