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Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s exit from Congress: ‘Denied tickets’, Sheila Dikshit’s nomination main reasons

The Congress hadn’t ever projected Joshi as a prominent Brahmin face — she was known more as an aggressive leader, a veteran with deep family roots in the Congress.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Sheila Dikshit, BJP, CM candidate, uttar pardesh elections 2017, joshi quit, joshi join BJP, joshi BJP, UP polls, congress, BJP, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, brahmin votes, vote bank, up elections, BJP, congress, Vijay Bahuguna, rahul gandhi, kisan yatra, congress campaign, BJP campaign, mahila congress, indian express news, india news Rita Bahuguna Joshi in Delhi Thursday. Source: Praveen Khanna.

IN THE run-up to her switch from the Congress to the BJP, former UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi had been denied two assembly tickets, party sources said — one for herself from Lucknow Central, the other for her son Mayank from Lucknow Cantonment.

Besides, there was always the projection of Sheila Dikshit as CM candidate in a state where all parties are eyeing the Brahmin vote. The Congress hadn’t ever projected Joshi as a prominent Brahmin face — she was known more as an aggressive leader, a veteran with deep family roots in the Congress.

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Her aggression is well known. In 2009, she was arrested and her house was set on fire, allegedly by BSP workers, after she had allegedly used derogatory words against then chief minister Mayawati. As national spokesperson of the Congress, she often appeared on behalf of the Congress on TV debates and criticised the BJP-led government’s policies. After she joined the BJP, many of these statements circulated on social media.

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Daughter of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, and sister of former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna, Joshi had not always been with the Congress. She contested and lost the 1998 Lok Sabha election from Sultanpur as Samajwadi Party candidate. After she joined the Congress, she lost two more LS polls: from Lucknow in 2009 and 2014.

The switch had looked possible since her brother Vijay joined the BJP with Congress MLAs in Uttarakhand. Additionally, when Dikshit was named CM candidate, Joshi was made a member of the poll co-ordination committee but not given independent charge of any panel.

Festive offer

“She was never sidelined. What did the party not give her and her family?” said Pradeep Mathur, CLP leader in UP. “Her father was made chief minister, her brother was made Uttarakhand CM. She was given a chance to contest for the Lok Sabha twice and even for the assembly. She was made state president, she was now national spokesperson. What more would a leader want? Her exit is not a loss to us.”

Party sources say the major turning point came during Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra, when he had Sheila Dikshit and Raj Babbar alongside him but apparently made Joshi sit in the third vehicle.

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Once considered close to Sonia Gandhi, she served as president of Mahila Congress from 2003 to 2008, then as UPCC chief from 2007 to 2012. After the party won only 28 out of 403 assembly seats in 2012, she was replaced with Nirmal Khatri.

A Ph D in history, she taught medieval and modern history at University of Allahabad. Allahabad mayor from 1995 to 2000, she was felicitated in 2001 by UN as “Most distinguished Woman Mayor in South Asia”. She is married to P C Joshi, retired as a general manager in the public sector.

First uploaded on: 21-10-2016 at 01:56 IST
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