Former UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna to join BJP?

NEW DELHI: Congress is trying to rubbish reports that Rita Bahuguna Joshi, former UPCC president and prominent Brahmin face in the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, is headed for BJP.
It is said that Joshi has reached out to senior functionaries of the saffron party. Senior Congress members denied the reports, but sources close to Joshi confirmed she has been in touch with saffron members who seem keen on her joining BJP as this would boost its standing in the Brahmin community.
Though Bahuguna is not seen as a major force, her induction will undercut Congress’s Brahmin outreach that has seen the party project former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit as its chief ministerial nominee. Brahmins, estimated to constitute around 14% of the electorate, are seen as an important vote bank in UP where BJP, Samajwadi Party and BSP seem locked in a close contest for the assembly polls due next year.
Joshi has been indifferent to the party activities in the past few days, mainly during the much-hyped Kisan Yatra of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Though Joshi could not be contacted, her brother and former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna, who had revolted against Congress and joined BJP in May, said she (Joshi) and other like-minded leaders were welcome in the saffron party.
“I will meet her tomorrow (Tuesday) and find out the truth,” said Bahuguna, adding that he doesn’t thrust decisions on her. However, he said his sister and others, who want “development” of the state, should join BJP. “The state under Mayawati and Mulayam is at a standstill,” he said.
Bahuguna had parted ways from Congress after revolting against the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand. Congress leaders, however, trashed Rita Joshi’s possible exit from the party as media speculation.
BJP and Congress have been vying for the Brahmin vote since reports surfaced about the community’s disgruntlement with BSP.