For Maya’s seven, Cong gets 5,000 ex-BSP men

In an attempt at one-upmanship, the Congress today brought former BSP members and 5,000 workers into its fold in Haryana.

This comes about ten days after the split in the Congress Legislative Party in Uttar Pradesh where seven sitting MLAs of the party decided to join the BSP-led government on January 28.

None of those who joined the party today were with the BSP in Haryana or had been since 2000 when they formed a new party called Samaj Shakti Party after splitting the BSP state unit.

That did not deter Haryana strongman Bhajan Lal from propping them before the media as a proof of the growing dissent within the BSP and the rising popularity of the Congress.