Congress veteran N.D. Tiwari, son join BJP

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) Nonagenarian political leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari on Wednesday quit the Congress party after over half a century of association to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with his son Rohit Shekhar here on Wednesday.

The two were inducted into the party at the residence of BJP President Amit Shah.

The move comes ahead of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and with Tiwari being a Brahmin, is expected to benefit the BJP.

While the Congress dubbed the move a measure of the "political desperation" of the BJP, Tiwari's family expressed disappointment and shock and alleged the decision was "forced" on him.

Tiwari, 91, the only one to have been the Chief Minister of both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was also a cabinet minister and held key portfolios like external affairs, finance, industry and parliamentary affairs.

Besides thrice serving as Chief Minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh, Tiwari headed the first Congress government in Uttarakhand after it was carved out in 2000.

Tiwari was the Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2007 until 2009 when he quit after a sex scandal.

Complaints were filed seeking his prosecution but Tiwari dismissed the charges as a political conspiracy.

A year earlier, Tiwari was embroiled in another controversy when Rohit Shekhar filed a paternity suit against him, claiming the veteran politician was his biological father.

The intense legal battle led to a court-ordered DNA test, the results of which established Tiwari as Rohit's biological father and Ujjwala Sharma as his biological mother.

In 2014, Tiwari formally married Ujjwala Sharma.

Born in a village in Nainital district of then undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1925, Tiwari made his mark in student politics.

He became an MLA in 1952 from Nainital on a Praja Samajwadi Party ticket. He joined the Congress in 1963.

He remained a member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and also served as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

When P.V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister, Tiwari and Arjun Singh broke away from the Congress and formed a rival Congress. It merged with the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi later.

Commenting on the development, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said it was reflective of the BJP's talent deficit.

"This is his (Tiwari) personal decision. But, the move demonstrates the talent deficit of the BJP and political desperation of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh," Jha told IANS.

"In Uttar Pradesh, after the announcement of the alliance between Samajwadi Party and Congress, the BJP is clearly anticipating an electoral defeat like they experienced due to the Mahagatbandhan in Bihar," added Jha.

Expressing the family's "shock and disappointment", Tiwari's nephew Manishi alleged the decision was "forced" on him.

"We strongly believe that these decisions are being made for him, by others, keeping in mind their own interests and agendas. Either way, we members of the Tiwari family, do not endorse this move at all and see ourselves as eternally part of the Indian National Congress," said Manishi in a statement.

"We are a longstanding Congress family of freedom fighters and we have reason to believe that Tiwariji would never desert the Congress party on his own volition," added Manishi.