A one-time trusted lieutenant of Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and the party's Muslim mascot, Nasimuddin Siddiqui on Thursday joined the Congress along with at a large number of supporters, including around 100 leaders. Siddiqui had been expelled from the BSP in May last year for 'anti-party' activities.
Siddiqui, who was in the BSP for more than three decades and was a minister in Mayawati's cabinet when she was UP chief minister, ensured that his joining the Congress was accompanied by a show of strength.
While a large number of former MPs and MLAs, who were in the BSP, joined the Congress along with him at the AICC headquarters, hundreds of Siddiqui's supporters, who had come from UP, shouted slogans hailing Congress chief Rahul Gandhi outside.
Siddiqui, who is from Banda, is said to have a strong support base in western Uttar Pradesh, and the Congress hopes to boost its presence in the electorally crucial state by bringing in Siddiqui and other BSP leaders into its fold.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC general secretary in charge of party affairs in UP, said the joining of Siddiqui and other BSP leaders shows that the circumstances are changing, and the future prospects of the Congress look bright.
“People from other parties are now preferring to join the Congress. They want to work under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” Azad said.
The 58-year-old Siddiqui said that parting with the BSP was 'heartbreaking' for him. He, however, also claimed that he comes from a family with a strong Congress legacy, and that he was the only one from his family who went the BSP way.
Asked whether he would agree to the Congress deciding to enter an alliance with Mayawati in UP, he said, “Me, my supporters, my wife and my children will throughout our lives obey the decisions of the Congress leadership.”
Azad was asked whether by getting Siddiqui on board, the Congress had burned its bridges with Mayawati, and diminished the possibilities of a 'Mahagathbandhan' in UP. Azad replied that any talks on alliance should not be affected by Siddiqui joining the Congress, as he and his supporters had anyway been expelled from the BSP by Mayawati.
However, the Congress in UP is divided on the decision to induct Siddiqui into the party. A section of the state leadership feels that the party may not benefit from his joining as his image is not good and he is saddled with allegations of corruption.