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Anuradha moves from RLD to SP with Vimla
Ending her more than one-and-half-decade association with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), former MP Anuradha Choudhary joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday.
The entire Yadav family, including SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, party’s State chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav along with Azam Khan welcomed Choudhary in the party.
Choudhary, who was once considered to be close to RLD chief Ajit Singh, was sulking at being sidelined in the party. She gave Ajit Singh’s tie-up with the Congress as the reason for her break-up, accusing him of going against the ideology of his late father Chowdhury Charan Singh, who always fought against the Congress.
“Choudhary Charan Singh remained anti-Congress all life, and we cannot compromise on our principles. Ajit Singh has betrayed the great farmer leader, late Charan Singh, who happens to be his father,” she said. Anuradha Choudhary had lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election as an RLD candidate. It is reported that her stature was cut to size with the rise of Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Choudhary in the party. What hurt Anuradha Choudhary most was that her bastions Kairana and Shamli were handed over to Congress in the poll alliance.
“It is true I did not like giving these winning seats to Congress,” she said. Lashing out at Ajit Singh, Anuradha Choudhary said he was an opportunist who had joined hands with Congress for a ministerial berth. “The electoral alliance should have been issue-based and Ajit Singh should have cleared his stand on land acquisition and Jat reservation. But he sidelined both these issues and grabbed the ministerial berth,” she said.
Choudhary said that Congress was also cheating the farmers as Rahul Gandhi did not bring the proposed land acquisition bill in Parliament.
“When Rahul visited Bhatta-Parsaul, people thought that farmers’ issues like land acquisition would be addressed but he forgot these at a later stage,” she said.
Singing peans to SP, Anuradha Choudhary said that Mulayam Singh Yadav was the only leader who took up the cause of farmers and backwards. “We hope to carry forward the struggle. I am happy to be part of the Samajwadi Party family,” she said.
Along with Choudhary, RLD MLA Vimla Singh and several leaders of the party also joined the SP. Former MP Shahid Siddiqui, who had left SP over nuclear deal issue, also rejoined the party. Bollywood actor Vishwajeet Pradhan also joined the SP. “I am a native of Muzaffarnagar and UP is my ‘karmabhoomi’ so I realised that I should join politics and SP is the best party at present,” Pradhan said.
Azam Khan said such occasions became “official joining” when everyone was present. Perhaps he was referring to the recent controversy over DP Yadav who tried to sneak into the party but was kept out by Akhilesh Yadav.
Mulayam Singh Yadav said there was a wave in favour of SP and it would win the Assembly election with absolute majority.
Ending her more than one-and-half-decade association with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), former MP Anuradha Choudhary joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday.
The entire Yadav family, including SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, party’s State chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav along with Azam Khan welcomed Choudhary in the party.
Choudhary, who was once considered to be close to RLD chief Ajit Singh, was sulking at being sidelined in the party. She gave Ajit Singh’s tie-up with the Congress as the reason for her break-up, accusing him of going against the ideology of his late father Chowdhury Charan Singh, who always fought against the Congress.
“Choudhary Charan Singh remained anti-Congress all life, and we cannot compromise on our principles. Ajit Singh has betrayed the great farmer leader, late Charan Singh, who happens to be his father,” she said. Anuradha Choudhary had lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election as an RLD candidate. It is reported that her stature was cut to size with the rise of Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Choudhary in the party. What hurt Anuradha Choudhary most was that her bastions Kairana and Shamli were handed over to Congress in the poll alliance.
“It is true I did not like giving these winning seats to Congress,” she said. Lashing out at Ajit Singh, Anuradha Choudhary said he was an opportunist who had joined hands with Congress for a ministerial berth. “The electoral alliance should have been issue-based and Ajit Singh should have cleared his stand on land acquisition and Jat reservation. But he sidelined both these issues and grabbed the ministerial berth,” she said.
Choudhary said that Congress was also cheating the farmers as Rahul Gandhi did not bring the proposed land acquisition bill in Parliament.
“When Rahul visited Bhatta-Parsaul, people thought that farmers’ issues like land acquisition would be addressed but he forgot these at a later stage,” she said.
Singing peans to SP, Anuradha Choudhary said that Mulayam Singh Yadav was the only leader who took up the cause of farmers and backwards. “We hope to carry forward the struggle. I am happy to be part of the Samajwadi Party family,” she said.
Along with Choudhary, RLD MLA Vimla Singh and several leaders of the party also joined the SP. Former MP Shahid Siddiqui, who had left SP over nuclear deal issue, also rejoined the party. Bollywood actor Vishwajeet Pradhan also joined the SP. “I am a native of Muzaffarnagar and UP is my ‘karmabhoomi’ so I realised that I should join politics and SP is the best party at present,” Pradhan said.
Azam Khan said such occasions became “official joining” when everyone was present. Perhaps he was referring to the recent controversy over DP Yadav who tried to sneak into the party but was kept out by Akhilesh Yadav.
Mulayam Singh Yadav said there was a wave in favour of SP and it would win the Assembly election with absolute majority.
