Former BSP Minister, others join Congress in run-up to Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

Former Bahujan Samaj Party leaders, including a former State Minister and former Lok Sabha candidate, were among the dozens of political figures who joined the Uttar Pradesh Congress at its State headquarters on Sunday (September 27, 2026).

U.P. Congress leaders claimed this is evidence of the party gaining momentum and support from the public, adding that the days of the ruling BJP are numbered in the State.

Those who joined the party include Izhar-ul-Haq, who was a Minister in the BSP government in the 1990s; Naeem Ahmed, who contested the 1998 Lok Sabha election on a BSP ticket, polling over one lakh votes in Amethi; Madan Mohan Sharma, a former student leader and founder president of the Shri Banke Bihari Educational Society Agra; and Rashid Khan, a former block chief of Nanpara in Bahraich district.

Broad-based support

U.P. Congress president Ajay Rai welcomed the newcomers to the party, saying they represented the diversity of support for the Congress in the State.

“Today, a huge political gathering was witnessed at the State headquarters in Lucknow. Many prominent leaders from various parties and social groups, along with hundreds of their supporters, formally joined the Congress party. Our new colleagues took primary membership of the party and on behalf of the entire Congress family, we wholeheartedly welcomed and congratulated the new leaders and workers,” he said. “Various social groups and communities in Uttar Pradesh are solidly behind the leadership of Rahul Gandhi Ji. The joining also signifies the minority community, backwards, Dalits and upper castes, are fully with the ideas of Rahul Gandhi,” he added.

Mr. Haq and Mr. Ahmed both have a “strong social base in their respective regions”, he noted. “Winds of change are now clearly blowing in Uttar Pradesh. This historic fight for people’s rights, the future of youth, and social justice will receive a new direction and boundless energy under the guidance of Rahul Ji,” he added.

‘U.P. waiting for change’

This comes days after former MP Amir Alam Khan and his son, former MLA Nawazish Alam Khan, joined the Congress on September 24, along with leaders of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Azad Samaj Party (ASP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Mr. Amir Alam Khan had previously represented Kairana in the Lok Sabha as a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MP, and has also been a Rajya Sabha MP and a three-term MLA.

“These joinings are a clear sign that Uttar Pradesh is waiting for change and wants to overthrow the BJP government. Since the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Muslim community in particular and the people of the country in general have full faith in the leadership of the Congress party, that only the grand old party can protect the plural, democratic fabric of the country against the authoritarian tendencies of the BJP,” said Congress national secretary Shahnawaz Alam.