Ahead of UP elections, will Rita Bahuguna Joshi's switch hurt Congress?

Also read: Rita Bahuguna Joshi's switch from Congress to BJP is Rahul Gandhi's failure

Speculations of former UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi switching loyalties to the BJP ran rife for a week. Even if it was predicted a long time back — beginning with her brother Vijay Bahuguna’s revolt that ultimately had him joining the BJP — it came as a surprise to many.

Though the reasons cited by Rita Bahuguna haven’t convinced anyone, the actual reasons might have to do with Congress naming former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit as their chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh.

Even an ostensibly small matter like being relegated as the third vehicle in the just-concluded Kisan Yatra undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, where other leaders got more prominence, might have played a part. There are also rumours that her ambition to launch her son from her sitting seat of Lucknow Cantonment and to contest from Allahabad, where she has her roots, did not find much favour with the party.

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