Haji throws his weight behind Cong

new delhi: The Congress received a shot in the arm late on Monday night, brightening its chances in the North East parliamentary constituency, when BSP candidate Haji Dilshad Ali announced his support for the party. Congress had earlier managed to wean away Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MLA from Matia Mahal Shoiab Iqbal, who had announced his candidature from the seat, threatening to polarise Muslim votes.
Even as the Congress camp went into celebration mode, the BSP camp dealt with the blow which came only a day after party chief Mayawati warned that there were "betrayers'' in the party who could switch over at the last moment.
For state BSP leaders and party national general secretary Nasmuddin Siddique, who were heading home from a rally organised at Seelampur to seek support for Dilshad Ali, the dramatic development came as a big shock and surprise.
Said Delhi BSP president Brahm Singh Bidhuri, "Till 10 pm Dilshad's sons were with us at the public meeting and they were also seeking votes since he has been barred from campaigning by a city court. We have no knowledge of his support to the Congress party, but people like you have told us. We are trying to talk to him, but his mobile is now switched off.''
Meanwhile, appearing with senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes and party's nominee for the Lok Sabha seat J P Agrawal at Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) office, Dilshad Ali claimed that he joined hands with the Congress to ensure BJP's defeat. "I don't want the BJP to win the election at any cost,'' he said.
Welcoming Dilshad's unconditional support Agrawal said, "Only today he came and talked to us about his intention to strengthen secular forces. Now it will be a direct fight between Congress and BJP with no division of secular votes.'' Agrawal claimed this would boost the moral of party workers.
Meanwhile, alleging the Congress was "habitual'' with such "nasty tactics'' of "buying threats'' in poll politics, Bidhuri said, "This will come as a big blow to them. Everything will not finish with this election. We will give them a befitting reply.''
Dilshad, who had lost the last assembly election from Babarpur seat by a narrow margin, was seen as a major spoiler for the Congress in North East. According to estimates, Muslims and Dalits have over 8 lakh votes in this constituency. By fielding a Muslim candidate the BSP was hopeful of scoring well from here. On the other hand, there had been strong indication of over 1.8 lakh Brahmin votes and large chunk of Vaisya votes could have polarised for BJP candidate B L Sharma.