Seeking son-rise, ND Tiwari extends support to BJP, Shah
NEWDELHI/LUCKNOW: Congress veteran and former chief minister of Uttarakhand Narayan Dutt Tiwari Wednesday met Amit Shah and extended support to the BJP, giving it a big boost in the hill state that goes to polls on February 15.
Tiwari’s son Rohit Shekhar, who has been looking for a Congress ticket, joined the BJP in Delhi in presence of Shah.
Though the 91-year-old leader, who is also a three -time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is no longer politically much active, his support to the saffron party is being seen as a boost to it ahead of the assembly polls .
The presence of the veteran leader who also held a gubernatorial post and several key portfolios in various Congress governments at the Centre can help the saffron party in Kumaon region. “In our meeting with the BJP president, we offered our support to him. It is now up to him to how to utilise us. My father blessed him,” Rohit Shekhar told PTI. Asked why his father was extending support to the BJP, Rohit said the party had completely ignored him. “Have you ever seen his photo in any Congress poster?”
Party insiders said Rohit could be accommodated in one of the six remaining seats. “He may be fielded from Lalkuan or Haldwani assembly constituency,” a BJP source said.
After being sidelined by the Congress in 2009, when he was forced to quit as Andhra Pradesh governor following an alleged sex scandal, Tiwari had edged closer to the Samajwadi Party that also appointed Rohit an advisor with minister of state status. The Congress isn’t amused by the move. “I wish him good health. He isn’t keeping well and one doesn’t even know if he knows what he is doing,” Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said.