"Mischief": Congress's Anand Sharma Rejects Reports Of Joining BJP

Congress leader Anand Sharma, dropped from the party's Rajya Sabha list, today dismissed reports that he will join the BJP and blamed it on "political mischief".

"News of my joining BJP is political mischief," Anand Sharma told NDTV, firmly denying any switch. 

A report had claimed that Anand Sharma, who has always been one of the most vocal critics of the BJP and its government at the Centre, would meet BJP president JP Nadda soon. 

Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad were the biggest names to be skipped from the Congress Rajya Sabha list, which has drawn criticism and anger from the ranks.

Both were Union Ministers and both are among the leading members of the G-23 or rebel group within the Congress, which called for major reforms and a leadership overhaul in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi two years ago.

Kapil Sibal was on the same list of 23 "dissidents" until he made the surprise announcement last week of quitting the Congress and contesting the Rajya Sabha election as an independent candidate backed by Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party.

Only three MPs have been renominated - P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Vivek Tankha. Seven "outsiders" have been named from four states.

Like many others in the dissidents' group, Anand Sharma has been sharply critical of the party over the past two years. He had slammed the Congress leadership for agreeing to be part of an alliance with a controversial party in Bengal. He had also questioned the leadership's silence over party workers attacking Kapil Sibal's home after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress.

The Congress has lost many prominent leaders over the past two years, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, RPN Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Kapil Sibal and Hardik Patel. This month, two leaders quit in quick succession.

Except for Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, most of these leaders have crossed over to the BJP.