In a setback to the Congress Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, Rita Bahuguna, one of its most prominent leaders in the state, has left to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bahuguna joined the BJP in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday.
The 67-year-old lawmaker from the Lucknow Cantonment is the daughter of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, who served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for two years before he was asked to resign by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Earlier this year, her brother Vijay Bahuguna, former chief minister of Uttarakhand orchestrated a split of eight other lawmakers from the Congress and joined the BJP. Although Bahuguna said that her brother's decision had nothing to do with her, the ugly split also cast a shadow over her relationship with the party.
In the lead up to her joining the party, there were reports of Bahuguna feeling sidelined in the party, especially after Sheila Dikshit was projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the UP polls, and Raj Babbar was appointed as the state chief.
While Bahuguna did not refute speculation over her joining the BJP, which had intensified over the past week, the Congress Party continued to take the line that she would not go her brother's way.
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