Former BSP MP from Sitapur joins Congress with her husband

LUCKNOW: Former BSP MP from Sitapur Kaiser Jahan and her husband Jasmeer Ansari took the primary membership of the Congress here on Monday.
The two had been associated with the BSP for around two decades. While Jahan won the Sitapur parliamentary seat in 2009, Jasmeer had been BSP MLA for two consecutive terms - 2007 and 2012. Their ties with the BSP were snapped in June 2018, when party chief Mayawati suspended them for anti-party activities.After a meeting with All India Congress Committee member Priyanka Gandhi last week, the duo joined the party along with their supporters.
"We took to politics only to serve the people and joined the BSP because it fostered the cause of the downtrodden... We never indulged in any anti-party activity when we were thrown out... In fact, we were on a pilgrimage to Umrah when the news broke. We were heart-broken," Jasmeer told TOI, adding, "We joined the Congress because we believe in secularism."
Kaiser, who is a person of few words, stated: "W oh log achhe lage... is liye hum unke saath ho gaye... (We liked them and so we joined them)."
Uttar Pradesh Congress president, Raj Babbar said: "They share their dream of serving the people with us at the Congress. The same mindset will help in taking our ideology forward."
Sources said that Jahan was a Congress probable from Sitapur for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections mainly because the couple enjoys immense public support in the area. Hailing from a humble family in Sitapur's Laharpur, Jasmeer was a tea vendor before he contested and won the panchayat chairman election in 2002.