Former Nationalist Congress Party leader Obaidullah Khan Azmi on Sunday rejoined the Congress, which said his presence will benefit the party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
A three-time Rajya Sabha member, Azmi represented Uttar Pradesh (1990-96) and Jharkhand (1996-2002) as a Janata Dal member while being re-elected to the upper house in 2002 from Madhya Pradesh on a Congress ticket.
"He is joining the Congress party today and we welcome him. He was a part of Congress earlier too. In the beginning, he was with Janata Dal under V.P. Singh," Congress General Secretary in-charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad told media persons.
"His political experience and popularity as a religious leader and his secular credentials will benefit the party ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections. His presence will strenghtnen the Congress party in the state. We need his help and guidance," he added.
Azmi said that Congress will emerge from "zero to hero in Uttar Pradesh.
"Congress knows how to emerge as hero from zero, and it will become hero in Uttar Pradesh. Congress is a party of certain ideology and secularism is its identity. Congress party has never compromised with its ideology," he said.
More From This Section
"UP is a victim of communalism and casteism. Parties kept winning in UP, but not the state. I have come with the hope that both state and the party will win," he added.
--IANS
sid/sm/vd