Ahead of the crucial electoral battle against Narendra Modi in Varanasi, the Congress has received a setback with one of its local leaders joining the BJP.
Dayashankar Mishra "Dayalu", who had served the Youth Congress in various capacities and also contested the assembly elections in 2012, was welcomed into the BJP by Modi's close aide and general secretary in-charge of UP, Amit Shah on Tuesday evening.
Shah was here to inaugurate Narendra Modi's swanky election office in the city's Sigra area on Tuesday evening. Dayalu's induction took place in the presence of MLA Anupriya Patel, general secretary of Apna Dal with which the BJP has a tie-up.
The development comes at a time when the Congress is yet to declare its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat for which filing of nominations will begin on April 17. The exit of "Dayalu" may queer the pitch for the party especially in the Varanasi "South" assembly segment, comprising many parts of the old temple town, where he had finished runners-up in Vidhan Sabha polls losing to his BJP rival by around 15,000 votes.
While Congress has asserted that Dayalu's betrayal will have no impact on its prospects in Varanasi, his step might have come as a personal setback to former MP Rajesh Mishra, to whom he was reportedly very close and who is one of the aspirants for party ticket from here.
In a statement, Mishra described the action of Dayalu as "betrayal against a party which had treated him with a lot of respect".
Congress' zonal in-charge Mani Shankar Pandey told PTI, "I sent a report on Dayalu's action to UPCC president Nirmal Khatri which was immediately forwarded to the Disciplinary Committee. Accordingly, Dayalu has been expelled from the party for six years".
Pandey claimed that Dayalu's exit "is not going to affect us in any manner and we have begun a campaign to apprise the people of Varanasi about the assistance given by UPA government at the Centre in last five years for development of the temple town which has been squandered by the state government, the Municipal Corporation and the local MP".
"There has been a misguiding campaign where in the Centre has been blamed for all the problems for which the Samajwadi Party government in the state, the previous BSP regime, the Mayor, who is from BJP, and Lok Sabha member Murli Manohar Joshi shall be held accountable. "We are going to enlighten voters about these things from block to ward level", he said.
Pandey also took potshots at the BJP saying "we have seen the performance of the sitting MP who is a former national President of the party and, in different circumstances, could have been a potential Prime Ministerial candidate himself."
"Now the BJP's PM candidate is contesting from here and the people of Varanasi would see through their game plan to get votes and abandon the city for pursuit of power," he added.
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