Ex-Ajit aide: Will not contest polls

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Workers cover statues of elephants, the BSP symbol, at Samajik Parivartan Pratik Sthal

In a major jolt to the Congress-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance, top aide of civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and party general secretary Anuradha Choudhary joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday. Enjoying support base in Muzaffarnagar-Kairana region of western UP, Ms Choudhary had been upset for a while over the electoral tieup with the Congress.
This newspaper had first reported on the move of Ms Choudhary to quit the RLD, after having been ignored in the pact with the Congress. Though she had been in touch with senior BJP leaders also, Ms Choudhary joined the SP on Sunday apparently in the hope that she would politically gain if the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party emerged as a single largest party in the state after the elections. Ms Choudhary had earlier been a minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in the state.
It was a double Sunday jolt to the RLD, as another party leader, Shahid Siddiqui, too joined the SP in the presence of the top party leadership, including Mr Azam Khan.
Ms Choudhary, perceived to be close to Mr Ajit Singh, was reportedly upset over the RLD-Congress alliance which did not leave seats for her and her supporters.
She was, at one time, the most powerful leader in the RLD but was gradually sidelined after the emergence of Mr Ajit Singh’s son Jayant in politics.
Ms Choudhary said she had joined politics 16 years ago, because she was impressed with Choudhury Charan Singh’s politics which centred around farmers. “The RLD has joined hands with the Congress which did not bring the land acquisition bill as promised. The RLD has been frequently changing alliances and Ajit Singh had opted for a ministerial post instead of fighting for farmers,” she said and added that she would not contest the elections but would campaign for the SP.