Blow for UP Congress as Rita joins BJP

Sixty-seven-year-old Joshi, daughter late Congress veteran Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, over whom there has been speculation of deserting Congress, joined BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah at the party headquarters in New Delhi. A former UPCC president who resigned as a Congress MLA, said there is no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP. Joshi, who was said to be unhappy with the Congress leadership over projection of Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial face in Uttar Pradesh, rued the present state of affairs in the party, alleging that it is in such a bad shape that it has contracted out its working to strategist Prashant Kishore. Slamming Rahul for his ‘dalali’ barb at Modi over the surgical strikes, Joshi said she has been disheartened by the events which happened in the last few days. “India is fighting terrorism and the Modi government has given the army a free hand. Besides valour of the army, the government’s strong leadership was also behind the surgical strikes. “Along with the nation, I too was happy. The whole world accepted India’s arguments behind the strikes. Congress, however, behaved like a small party and went on to question it. The whole nation was upset with a phrase like ‘khoon like dalali’,” she said attacking Gandhi. His remarks gave Pakistan an opportunity to question surgical strikes, she said, adding that political differences over national interest were not good.