Congress faces revolt in Sonia Gandhi's bastion

After Amethi, BJP seems to have turned its attention on Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Aditi Singh, the lone Congress legislator from one of the assembly segments of the LS constituency, could be ''exploring'' the possibility of joining the saffron party.

Aditi, the youngest member of the UP assembly, not only attended the special 36-hour session of the House in defiance of the party directive but also stayed away from the 'padyatra' by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the state capital on Wednesday in support of the Shahajahanpur rape victim.

Congress and other opposition parties have decided to boycott the special session.

She also heaped praise on chief minister Yogi Adityanath in her speech in the assembly. ''I attended the session out of respect for Mahatma Gandhi....I did what I thought was proper,'' she said.

The Adityanath government rewarded Aditi on Thursday by providing her 'Y' category security, which she had sought after an attack on her a few months back.

The young MLA, however, sought to dismiss the speculations about her joining the BJP saying that she only wanted to raise the issues concerning the people in her constituency. ''I will reply if and when the party seeks any explanation from me,'' she added.

Earlier also Aditi took a different line from the party and had come out in support of the abrogation of Art 370. Then also she had said that for her the country was above everything.

Aditi, whose father Akhilesh Singh had been a five-time MLA from Raebareli, had won the 2017 assembly poll from Raebareli by over 90 thousand votes. She had played a crucial role in the victory of Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli LS seat in the recently concluded general elections.

Though Congress had two MLAs from Raebareli, the other one Awadhesh Singh was already with the BJP for all practical purposes.

''Aditi is welcome to join the BJP,'' said a senior BJP leader here while speaking to DH