Ravi Dutt Mishra, who was previously a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and then the Samajwadi Party, joined the opposition Congress party on Thursday in the presence of Congress general secretary UP (East), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Mishra is the latest in a string of ministers who have changed sides before the poll battle. Mishra’s joining the Congress comes at a time when its president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary and in-charge for the party’s East Uttar Pradesh affairs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are on tour of Amethi.
It is said that Mishra was once a close aide to Union Minister Smriti Irani. She used to stay at his house in Amethi whenever she visited her constituency.
Amethi is considered to be a stronghold of the Congress party. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had retained Amethi in the 2014 General Elections defeating BJP candidate Smriti Irani, whom the party has repeated this time too.
Gandhi and Irani have filed their nominations from the seat. Amethi will go to polls on May 6, the sixth phase of seven-phased Lok Sabha elections to be held from April 11 to May 19. Results will be declared on May 23.
