In a setback to the BJP, Geeta Thakur, who was forced to withdraw from the Rajya Sabha race, left the party and joined the Congress late in the evening on Friday, dubbing the BJP as anti-Dalit and anti-women and eulogizing the Congress as pro-Dalit and pro-women.
Branding the pressure put on her to withdraw at the last moment as a sort of back-stabbing, Thakur, a Dalit, said the BJP brass had forced her to withdraw to keep things clear for Goel. "I have served the party for 15 years as a dedicated worker. I contested the Assembly election as a BJP candidate from Gangolihaat constituency. This time, the BJP assured me that I would be given the symbol for the Rajya Sabha election. They further assured me that Goel would be asked to withdraw from the race in my favour. But the reverse happened. It makes it clear that the BJP is at heart an anti-Dalit and anti-women party, its protestation to the contrary notwithstanding. The musk has pulled off and the real face has come out of the facade," she said.
Praising the Congress as one championing the cause of the downtrodden and the women relentlessly, she said her heart had always been lying with the Congress while she was imprisoned within the saffron walls. "I am happy now that I have come to my real home. I am feeling free," Thakur said.