In what comes as a boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari will join the BJP today.
Tiwari has submitted a letter to BJP President Amit Shah expressing his support to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Along with 91-year-old ND Tiwari, his son Rohit Shekhar will also join the BJP. Rohit was acknowledged by the veteran politician as his son three years ago after a six-year legal battle to establish paternity.
In 2013, Rohit had filed a paternity suit claiming that the Congress leader and 67-year-old Ujjwala Sharma were his biological parents. While initially refusing to undergo any DNA tests, Tiwari finally agreed and the test results declared that Rohit was his biological son.
Tiwari has been seeking a ticket for Rohit from Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and the BJP has reportedly agreed to his demand. However, there has been no commitment on part of the party in this regard.
The veteran leader was discharged from a private hospital in Haldwani on January 15, after falling unconscious.
ND Tiwari has served as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister thrice between 1976 and 1989. He was also the governor of Andhra Pradesh from August 2007 to December 2009.
He, however, resigned from his post as Governor after getting involved in an alleged sex scandal.
According to media reports, his induction into the BJP is seen as an attempt to consolidate the Brahmin vote in Uttarakhand, where elections will be held next month.
It is reported that Tiwari was seeking ticket a for his son from the Congress party, too, and had recently extended support to Akhilesh Yadav following the family fued in UP’s ruling Samajwadi Party.
