New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday got a shot in
its arm ahead of the September 15 Okhla Assembly bypoll when
50 BSP workers in the constituency joined the party.
The BSP workers, including several office bearers, joined
Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at a
function here.
The workers said they have lost confidence in Brahma
Singh Bidhuri, the BSP candidate from the seat and that is why
decided to join Congress.
Welcoming the BSP workers to the party fold, she asked
them to campaign for Congress candidate Farhad Suri. Suri was
also present on the occasion.
The bypoll to the seat was necessitated after Congress
MLA Pervez Hashmi got elected to Rajya Sabha. Hashmi had
retained the seat for the fourth consecutive term in the last
Assembly election.
BJP has fielded Irfan Ahmed, a Muslim, while RJD has
given a ticket to Mohammad Asif who lost the election in
November last year by a narrow margin of 400 votes.
Former MLA and NCP candidate Ram Singh Bidhuri is also a
strong contender. The constituency has nearly 43 per cent
Muslims voters.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 09, 2009, 20:56