Ex-Union minister Akhilesh Das joins BSP

Four days after he resigned from Congress blaming the 'coterie' around Rahul Gandhi, former Union Minister Akhilesh Das on Saturday joined the Bahujan Samaj Party in the presence of party chief Mayawati in Lucknow.

Welcoming Das into the party, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister announced that the veteran Congress leader will be the party's candidate from Lucknow parliamentary in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.

Mayawati also appointed the forty-six-year-old leader as the BSP's national general secretary.

Besides Das, former MLC and AICC member Siraj Mehndi and some of his supporters also joined BSP.

On Tuesday, Das resigned from the Congress as well as the Rajya Sabha blaming the 'coterie' around Rahul Gandhi, a charge dismissed by the Congress.

Das, who was recently dropped from the Union Council of Ministers, had said that he had no 'faith in the Congress party'.