Mankotia to formally join BSP on July 26

Shimla, July 17 (UNI) Suspended Congress leader and former Himachal Pradesh tourism minister Vijai Singh Mankotia is all set to join the BSP after the party's rally at Kangra town of the state on July 26.

''The decision to join the party was taken at New Delhi on July 8, earlier this month, after talks with party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,'' he told UNI over telephone from Dharamashala.

Mr Mankotia said he along with two other suspended Congress leaders Kewal Singh Pathania and Vijai Kumar Joshi would formally join the BSP on July 26.

Several other Congress leaders were also likely to join the party after the rally, which is to be addressed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, he said.

Referring to the present Congress government's four and a half years in office and the previous BJP government's five years in office, he said the people of the state were now for a viable alternative to both the Congress and the BJP.

Both the parties had failed in ameliorating the woes of the people and were likely to prop up an alternative or a third front in the state, the suspended Congress leader said.

''The BSP will field its candidates in all the 68 assembly seats and pip both the Congress and the BJP to form the next state government in Himachal.'' ''The people of the state will inflict a crushing defeat on the Congress for its misrule during its present tenure,'' he said.

Meanwhile, nine party leaders accused Mr Mankotia of doling out lame excuses to part ways with the Congress and join the BSP, after it returned to power in Uttar Pradesh.

Legislators Prem Singh, Bodh Raj, Tek Chand, Ishwar Dass, former legislators M R Goma and Yog Raj and party leaders Pritam Chand, Vinod Sultanpuri and Nirmal Devi, in a release here, said Mr.

Mankotia had been ''changing parties like shirts and one has lost count as to how many times he has changed parties''.

They said since the political situation in Himachal and UP was quite different, it would be a fallacy to believe that BSP would impact elections here.

The political standing of these leaders could be gauged from the fact that they had at several times in the past not only failed to retain their seats but had also lost their security deposits, they added.

UNI